Into My Veins i/ii
Into my Veins
Sehun/Luhan, Kai/Tao, Suho/Chen, Kris/Chanyeol; Horror, The Ruins!AU; NC17; 10,112
Warnings: Character Death, Suicide
Sehun doesn't think vacationing in Mexico is a good idea. Turns out Sehun couldn't have been more right.
A/N: Read at your own risk. Seriously.
i. Hedera Helix - Ivy
Spring break was right around the corner. Most of the students were gone - partying somewhere away from the school that took so much of their time. Twelve boys sat out in the quad under the giant oak tree deciding what they were going to do this year. When they decided vacationing in Mexico, everyone had agreed to it, well not exactly everyone.
Sehun had a bad feeling about the whole vacation. It wasn’t going on vacation that bothered him, it was the destination the others had all chosen. Mexico. Sehun had never been and didn’t want to go either. Something about the whole idea was making him anxious. He had no clue why but he didn’t question it, he just went with his gut instinct.
Sehun had declined to go to Mexico with his friends. The feeling inside him was too strong to ignore so he decided it was best for him to just stay behind and let the others have their fun without him.
Luhan wasn’t going to accept this though. Luhan wasn’t just going to on a life changing trip to a different country without his best friend in the world. One way or another Luhan was going to get Sehun to go along with them.
Sehun groaned loudly as Luhan entered his room. It was a week before the trip and he knew Luhan was going to try and talk him into coming on the trip with them. If it was anyone else Sehun would have been able to resist but he could never resist Luhan. Luhan could talk Sehun into anything and the trip was no exception.
Luhan was Sehun’s greatest weakness, in actuality Luhan was Sehun’s only weakness. Most things that he did all were done because Luhan had something to with it.
If it wasn’t for Luhan’s strong argument, Sehun wouldn’t find himself a week later standing in the middle of a Mexican hotel room looking down at the crystal clear water of the pool below. He can see Tao, and Jongin swimming laps, probably racing each other, and Chanyeol and Kris lounging shirtless near the pool’s edge having a casual conversation.
Sehun turns away from the window and makes his way to his bed where he plops down lifelessly. Luhan isn’t in the room right now and Sehun is thankful for that. Luhan talked his ear off the whole flight without pause. Now Sehun just wants to be alone after the brutal flight here. In reality he just wants be in his own bed back in Seoul.
The feeling that had been building in Sehun has grown three times more intense since the plane landed in Mexico. Sehun tried to act like as if it wasn’t bothering him for the sake of his eleven friends who were all ecstatic to be in Mexico but it was too strong. His mood slowly brought everyone down. The feeling inside him was also bringing him down, dragging him into the pits of gloominess.
They had checked into the hotel a few hours earlier. Everyone split into groups of four so they could save money for other things instead of getting six rooms and wasting all their money. They didn’t have the money to waste. They were all a bunch of broke college students and plus Jongdae made a strong case about needing the money for alcohol.
The hotel itself wasn’t much to speak of. It’s rooms were simple, white walls, big windows, small television and two full size beds. It was just a normal hotel room that you could find at any hotel in any country.
Sehun, Luhan, Joonmyun and Jongdae are sharing a room while Tao, Lay, Jongin, and Baekhyun are in another leaving Kris, Chanyeol, Minseok and Kyungsoo to the third room. It doesn’t really matter since they will probably end up switching a couple times before they leave.
“Sehun!” Luhan bursts through the door closely followed by Jongdae whom is grinning ear to ear about something. “Sehun.” Luhan repeats. He plops down on the bed next to Sehun. “I’ve got great news!”
Sehun groans and covers his face with his hands. “Luhan no.” Sehun knows that whatever Luhan has to say is going to be something he doesn’t want any part of.
Luhan scoffs. "If you didn't want to come you should've have just stayed in Korea."
Sehun sits up and stares at Luhan with his mouth ajar. "You're the one who convinced me to go!" Sehun fires back at his friend.
Jongdae chuckles at the two of them. "All you guys ever do is argue. Luhan just tell him about the temple. I want to get going!" Sehun doesn’t like how excited Jongdae is. He only gets this excited over something that is likely to get them either arrested or killed.
Luhan sits up. "We're going to an ancient Mayan temple!" The smile on his face is too bright. Sehun wants to punch him.
"No." Sehun says simply.
Luhan pouts. "Come one Sehun don't you want to see an ancient temple? I thought you loved things like that."
Sehun sighs. In all honesty he does want to see something like that, it's a lot better than sitting around the hotel all day doing nothing. Plus you can’t go to Mexico and not do anything. "Where is this temple?" Sehun asks.
Luhan's face lights up. "It's not really a tourist attraction per say." Luhan won't make eye contact with Sehun. "It's one that's been recently discovered so not many people know about it. Actually only locals know about it."
Sehun shakes his head. "No."
"Come on Sehun live a little." Jongdae chimes in.
Luhan shoots Jongdae a glare before speaking again. "It's a few hours hike into the jungle. We were planning on camping on top of the temple for the night and heading back here tomorrow morning. It’s going to be like an impromptu camping trip!" Luhan is way too excited over this idea.
Sehun replays the words over and over in his head before he even thinks about making a decision. "We are going to camp on top of a Mayan temple that is recently discovered in the middle of the jungle?" He asks. Before either Luhan or Jongdae get a chance to answer Sehun breaks out into raucous laughter. "Are you all on crack or something? There’s no fucking way I am doing that. What if something happens to us?"
Luhan and Jongdae both glare at Sehun as he continues to laugh at their ludicrous idea.
Luhan waits until all of Sehun’s laughter has died down before he even attempts to speak again. "Sehun." Luhan starts. "All the rest of us are going so if you don't you will be all alone at the hotel for the rest of the night. You will go insane from boredom."
Sehun chokes back the last of his laughter and makes eye contact with Luhan. Is he really serious about this whole thing? They’re really going to camp out in the middle of the jungle at some temple they probably aren't even legally allowed to be? Sehun just looks back and forth between Jongdae and Luhan. Their faces don't change in expression.
"If I go with you will you leave me alone for the rest of the trip and let me do nothing like I had originally planned?" Sehun asks.
Luhan and Jongdae look at each other with large grins painted across their faces. "I told you we could get him to go." Luhan says.
"I didn't think it would be that easy." Jongdae say back to Luhan.
“I can get Sehun to do anything. He loves me.”
Sehun scoffs loudly. "Guys I’m sitting right here." Sehun says. They turn their stares on him and grin from ear to ear.
Luhan throws his arm over Sehun's shoulder. "We are going to have a blast." He says with a huge smile.
Sehun isn’t so sure about that.
ii. Wisteria sinensis - Chinese Wisteria
An hour later Sehun finds himself with all his friends standing in front of a trail that leads into the jungle. "This is it!" Luhan says cheerily from the back of the group. Sehun wants to punch Luhan so bad but he manages to resist the urge.
Sehun looks down the trail. The trees are thick, almost too thick to fit people between them. Does Luhan really plan on leading twelve people down this trail? Sehun wishes he stayed in the hotel room.
"Are you sure?" Baekhyun asks. He swats away the flies circling his head.
Luhan nods. "This is the only trail there is out here. It has to be it." Luhan looks down the dirt road in the direction from which they had just came.
The driver of the small bus that Luhan had somehow managed to use as a taxi, dropped them off at the begging of the dirt road and told them to walk the rest of the way. The road was much too narrow for the bus to journey down.
"How far do we have to go until we reach the temple?" Minseok asks. He is leaning against Kyungsoo, who hasn’t spoken a word since they got off the bus. They both look exhausted already and they still have to keep walking.
Luhan looks down at his small map. "It's a good three hour hike or more from this point, maybe longer." He shoves the map back into his pocket.
The group groans as one. They are already tired from walking an hour down the narrow dirt road.
"If you guys don't want to go the rest of the way we can just make camp here and wait till morning for the bus to pick us up." Luhan says.
Sehun wants to say yes to this idea but instead he stays quiet as does everyone else.
"Well then let's get hiking!" Luhan says when no one speaks. Luhan is way to cheery. Sehun wants to punch the cheeriness out of him as usual.
---
It’s not until two hours later that they stop to take a break. By this time everyone is drenched in sweat and dehydrated. They walked for two hours straight without stopping.
Sehun hasn’t walked that long or far in almost five years.
Everyone drops to the ground pulling out water and food like their life depends on it.
Sehun pulls out an energy bar and drops to the ground. He rips is shirt over his head before shoving the bar into his mouth.
"We should be getting close." Luhan sits down next to Sehun on the ground taking out a bottle of water from his pack. His white shirt is completely drenched as if he just went swimming. He drinks half of his water in one large swig and hands it over to Sehun. "Want some?" Sehun takes the bottle and finishes the rest of the liquid easily.
"Where is Jongin?" Tao stands up looking around furiously.
Sehun looks around at the faces of his friends and realizes Jongin is definitely missing. There’s so many of them it’s hard to tell when one of them isn’t present.
Luhan stands up and looks around. "When did you last see him?"
Tao shakes his head. "He was right behind me when we were walking but I didn't really turn around to look so I can't be sure." Tao is starting to sound panicked.
"Maybe he just had to piss." Chanyeol and Kris look completely unconcerned with the whole situation.
They wait another ten minutes before Tao starts to freak out again. "What if something happened to him? I mean he could be lost out there!”
Kris pulls Tao aside and starts whispering frantically to him, trying to calm him down. Kris and Tao have known each other than anyone else in the group. They’ve been friends almost since they day they were born.
Whatever Kris says to Tao seems to work. Tao sits down calmly and stares in the direction they just came from.
Another five minutes later and Jongin arrives. He stops walking as all eyes are on him. It takes him a moment to realize that something is amiss.
Tao is the first one to him. He pulls Jongin into his arms. When he pulls away anger fills his features. "What the fuck Jongin!" Tao pushes Jongin away from him. "Don't just wander off like that! We're in the middle of fucking nowhere!" Tao continues to yell at poor Jongin about getting lost and eaten in the jungle and a million other absurd things that could’ve happened to Jongin.
Jongin looks sheepishly at the ground like a scolded child. "Sorry." He mutters still looking down at his feet. “I just got a little lost everything looks the same out here.”
Tao huffs as he moves away from Jongin, plopping down onto the ground next to Sehun and pulling out an energy bar. Sehun watches Tao eat angrily at the energy bar, taking large bites and all the while glaring at Jongin.
They start moving again in fifteen minutes. Luhan and Joonmyun lead the group deeper into the forest. Tao and Sehun take up the rear walking side by side tiredly. The forest has started to thin out and it’s easier to navigate now. Sehun can barely lift his feet any longer from tiredness but he perseveres and keeps moving forward.
"Whose brilliant idea was this?" Sehun asks shortly after they climb a small hill. His lungs strain for air.
Tao wipes the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand and stops walking to catch his breath. Sehun is appreciative for the little break. "Luhan, Chanyeol, and Kris." Tao answers. “They had been planning something like this before we even left but mostly Luhan. Chanyeol and Kris just wanted to go to one of the tourists temples. Luhan wanted to find this one.”
Sehun grinds his teeth. Luhan is always coming up with the most ridiculous things to do, things that not many other people would even dream of doing but this, this is the most out there thing that Luhan has planned to date. So far at least.
Another hour passes by in which time they are all drenched in sweat from head to toe. The jungle seems to get hotter and hotter as they go further in.
Sehun is pretty sure that he has over a thousand mosquito bites plus all the other insect bites he has been collecting. He is really starting to hate this trip.
Sehun and Tao finally hear the words they have been waiting for since starting this journey hours ago. Sehun almost falls to his knees right there on the trail he is so happy.
"We made it!" Luhan yells excitedly.
Sehun and Tao look at each other and both let out sighs of relief at the same time.
“Thank god.” Tao mumbles stumbling out of the jungle. Sehun stumble out of the trees right behind Tao.
The temple is exactly as Sehun had pictured it albeit a lot more grown in, with flowering vines covering most if not all of the stone, but it still looks just as the Mayan temples look in pictures.
Breathtaking.
"Whoa." Yixing says.
They all stand there in a horizontal line in front of the temple just taking in the whole sight. The mountains in the background make it seem like something right off the television screen except this is all real.
It’s the most beautiful thing that Sehun has ever seen with his own eyes.
"This is amazing." Jongin breathes from somewhere down the line. Sehun couldn’t agree more.
Sehun says nothing as he stares at the temple. A strange feeling of dread fills his being so suddenly it shakes him to the core. "Guys." He whispers.
None of them hear him, they are all too busy admiring the temple.
"Guys something is wrong." Sehun says it a little more loudly. Yixing on his left hears him along with Luhan on his right. The others don't though, they are so transfixed with what stands before them.
"What do you mean?" Luhan asks turning to Sehun.
Sehun swallows the lump in his throat and shrugs. "I don't know something just feels off about this place. Maybe we should go..." Sehun trails off.
Baekhyun and Jongdae take off running towards the stairs that lead up to the top of the temple. Their laughter could probably be heard from miles away. Sehun swallows the lump in his throat as he watches his friends.
Before Sehun can call out and get them to stop and come back they are already on the stairs and ascending the temple quickly. Luhan laughs as Kris and Chanyeol are next to run for the stairs. Sehun watches in horror as they climb the mountainous stairway to the top.
Something is wrong here. The air has a charge to it that make Sehun want to turn and run away as fast as his legs will allow him.
Sehun takes a step backwards. The feeling he had been feeling ever since the idea of going to Mexico has intensified so bad that he can barely keep the contents of his stomach in. His legs threaten to collapse beneath his body weight.
"Sehun what’s wrong?" Yixing is staring at Sehun with wide worry filled eyes. "Are you sick or something?"
Sehun shakes his head. "We just need to get back to the hote-" Everything goes black.
iii. Bougainvillea Spectabilis - Bougainvillea
Sehun wakes up with a raging headache. The pain is too intense for him to even open his eyes. He slowly tries to move but pain shoots down his limbs even at the slightest movement. Sehun clenches his fist and does all he can do. He waits for the pain to fade away.
When the pain finally ebbs away Sehun slowly sits up. He opens his eyes even slower and when he does he prays that what he sees isn't reality. He prays that he is still passed out near the edge of the jungle.
He stares out at the jungle from the top of the temple. Terror fills him. He can see the mountains that surround them perfectly from so high up. It’s so high he feels like he is in the sky. The clouds seem so close.
"Oh, Sehun you're awake. Are you feeling better?" Yixing crouches down next to Sehun.
Sehun shakes his head. "No. Why am I up here? I told Luhan... What happened?" Sehun’s mind is racing. Luhan never listens to so why did he think he would this time? Obviously Luhan doesn’t care how worried Sehun was about this place.
“You passed out Sehun. You must’ve been exhausted from the hike.”
Sehun clenches his fists in his lap. He turns to Yixing. "No, that’s not why I passed out. We can't stay here." The urgency in his voice scares even himself.
Yixing's eyes widen. "What's wrong Sehun? You've been acting strange since we got here."
Sehun shakes his head. "I don't know. I just have this feeling that something terrible is going to happen. We need to get away from here."
To Sehun's surprise Yixing nods. "I'll try to convince the others. I don’t like it here anymore than you. This place give off a strange vibe.” He sighs and gets to his feet. "Luhan and Kris aren't going to listen easily though, they think this is the best thing that has ever happened to them." Sehun watches Yixing run his hand through his hair, a thing he only ever does when something is bothering him badly.
Sehun watches Yixing make his way to Luhan.
Sehun looks away before he can see the expression on Luhan's face. Luhan isn't going to be happy about this but at this point Sehun couldn’t care less. He passed out from his strange feeling that this place gave him that should be enough to make Luhan leave without a second thought.
But of course not. Luhan is too selfishly absorbed with this little adventure. He isn’t seeing the bigger picture.
Yixing sits down next to Sehun a few minutes later. "Luhan said that whoever wanted to leave was free to leave with me and you. He said that he is staying and whoever wants to stay can." Yixing sounds tired. "We can leave soon if you still want to."
Sehun nods. There is no way that he is going to stay the night out here.
Yixing gathers all of his, plus Sehun’s things. He helps Sehun to his feet and hands him his pack. “Ready?” Yixing asks.
Tao and Jongin coming running over right before they are about to leave. "We aren't staying here." Tao says. "This place is creepy."
Jongin nods. "Who knows what happened here in the past. People could’ve been sacrifices or something. They did that kind of thing at these temples.”
Sehun is glad he isn’t the only one this place is creeping out. It makes him feel less crazy.
The four of them wait to make sure no one else wants to leave with them. When no one comes over they begin to descend the stairs in a single file formation. Yixing is in the front and Jongin is in the back. They are silent the whole hike down.
They reach the bottom just as the sun begins to dip below the horizon. Sehun takes a minute to admire the beautiful sunset. It almost looks as if the sky is on fire. It’s a sight that he will never get to witness from his dorm back at the college.
The four of them stand there staring at the horizon for a few moments. They stay silent as they take in the breath taking sight before them.
"Well we won't make it back to the road before it's dark." Tao says breaking the peace. "But I don't want to be anywhere near this place when it gets dark so let’s get out of here."
Sehun agrees with Tao wholeheartedly. He doesn’t want to be near this place any time during the day let alone the night. Sehun starts to move away from the temple taking giant steps to take him away quicker.
That's when something strange happens. Sehun runs right into a barrier. One that he can't see with his eyes. "What the fuck?" He rubs his forehead where it hit.
"What's wrong?" Jongin steps up beside Sehun.
"I, uh." Sehun doesn't want to say anything in case he has gone completely insane. Maybe it’s just a delusion.
"Ouch!" Tao yells from a few feet away. "What the fuck is this?" Sehun and Jongin turn to see Tao placing his hands against something, something that they can’t see but is definitely there.
Something solid stands in their way.
Yixing reaches out with a tentative hand. Sure enough his palm flattens against something. "There's something here." He says stating the now obvious. “It feels like glass.” His brow furrows in confusion. Yixing starts to walk letting his hand glide on whatever strange thing is keeping them from moving forward.
Sehun watches in complete and utter fright as Yixing keeps going until he takes a sudden right hand turn and goes down the other side of the temple out of sight.
Sehun, Tao, and Jongin stay where they are, hands on the weird barrier waiting for Yixing to return. He does ten minutes later. "It goes around the whole entire temple." He says. Panic fills Yixing’s eyes. “We’re trapped here.”
Now the fear in Sehun's chest is from something real. They are now trapped by something they can't even see.
"How is something like this even possible?" Jongin asks as he rubs his hand against the barrier. His voice doesn’t sound panicked just deadened like he has no feeling left inside him.
Yixing shrugs. "I don't know but I do know one thing. We aren't leaving until whatever this is, is gone."
Panic feels Sehun. He looks at each of his friends. They are scared, maybe even more so than he himself is.
“What do we do now?” Tao asks.
Yixing sighs and shrugs at the same time. “There’s nothing we can do.”
They have no choice but to climb the stairs and go back to the top. "Sorry Sehun but it looks as though we aren’t leaving tonight." Yixing says. He rubs his hand in a soothing circle on the small of Sehun's back. Sehun doesn't feel at all better by the touch though. Nothing can shake the terrible feeling that still continues to build inside him.
Something tells him this is only the beginning. It’s going to be a long dreadful night.
iv. Ipomoea Purpurea - Morning Glory
They decide not to tell Luhan about the strange barrier keeping them inside. It’s better if they don’t tell the others, they don’t want to create a panic. Sehun doesn’t think they would believe it anyways.
“We’ll just wait till morning.” Yixing says as the walk up the stairs. “It should be gone by then. If it’s not gone by then we will panic.”
They reach the top and slowly make their way over to where the others are sitting around a small fire. They are being strangely quiet, no one is speaking, not even Luhan or Chanyeol.
As Sehun, Yixing, Tao and Jongin draw closer they can see that something is wrong.
“What are you guys doing here?” Luhan is the first to spot them. He stands up and walks up to Yixing. “I thought you left.” His voice is shaky and concerned.
Yixing shakes his head. “We didn’t want to walk through the jungle, it’s too dark.” Yixing lies.
Luhan nods. “Well…” Luhan trails off.
Sehun can sense that something is wrong. “What’s wrong Luhan? What happened?”
Luhan turns and stares at Sehun. “It’s Joonmyun. Something- I’m not really sure.” Luhan glances at Joonmyun who is sitting next to Jongdae with a grim look on his face.
“What happened to Joonmyun?” Jongin whispers.
Luhan shakes his head. “He was laughing and all fine one second and the next he was screaming. He thought something was crawling beneath his skin.” Luhan looks terrified as he says this. “We looked at his arm where he said he felt it but there is nothing there except a shallow cut.”
Sehun feels his blood turn to ice in his veins.
Luhan wrings his hands and then looks over at Joonmyun and Jongdae. “Whatever it is though it’s really bothering him. He won’t let Jongdae get more than a foot away from him without freaking out. Something is definitely not right with him. I’m really worried.”
They stand there a little ways away from the others in silence.
The silence doesn’t last long.
“Luhan!” Jongdae yells suddenly breaking the less than peaceful silence.
Luhan starts heading to Jongdae. Sehun follows close behind. He can hear the urgency in Jongdae’s voice.
“What’s wrong?” Luhan asks.
Jongdae shakes his head. “He’s not crazy.” Jongdae gasps. “There-there was something crawling under his skin.” Jongdae’s voice shakes and Sehun watches as he slowly starts to unravel as he continues to speak. “There’s something inside him.”
Luhan takes a step away from the two of them . “What?” He asks dumbly.
“Maybe it’s some story of parasite.” Yixing states.
Joonmyun holds his arm out so everyone can get a good look at his arm.
Jongin takes one look and is releasing the contents of his stomach into some of the vines on the other side of the temple. Tao is rubbing his back soothingly as he vomits up everything he’s got.
Sehun is morbidly transfixed on the defined, worm like shapes moving beneath the skin of Joonmyun's arm. The shallow cut which Luhan had told them about is not shallow any longer. Sehun can see down to the bone, the edges of the cut are black like coal.
"We need to get him to a hospital!" Jongdae screeches loudly.
The sun has set and the light is starting to fade quickly. Soon their only source of light will be from the fire and the flashlights they brought along with them. Sehun isn’t looking forward to the darkness but at this point no one is.
Luhan runs a hand through his hair and starts to pace back and forth. All eyes are glued to him, waiting for him to call the shots since this trip was mostly his idea.
"Yes, that has to be a parasite in his cut. We need to get Joonmyun to the hospital." Luhan decides after a minute.
Sehun swallows the lump in his throat. He looks to Yixing searching for the answer to his question.
Luhan starts to look frantically around at everyone. "Get packing." He orders.
Before anyone can move Yixing pulls Luhan aside. He starts whispering into his ear not loud enough for any of the others to hear him. Sehun is close enough to catch a few words though. Trapped, barrier, screwed. Luhan's face goes from utter terror to something even worse. He starts to whisper back to Yixing. Yixing exhales a shaky breath and nods but says nothing more to Luhan.
When they stop whispering to each other Luhan turns to everyone. "Kris, take Baekhyun and go to the bottom of the temple." Luhan says. Then Luan turns to Sehun. "Sehun you go with them and explain things on the way down.” Sehun nods. He's just glad he doesn't have to stay up here. Luhan continues “Everyone else pack up everything and be ready to leave soon."
Sehun leads Kris and Baekhyun towards the steps. As they start to descend Sehun knows what he has to tell his friends. He takes a deep breath. "We can't leave." He says simply.
Kris grunts. "Why not?"
Sehun takes another deep breath. "You’re not going to believe me but there is something keeping us from leaving. It's hard to explain, I'll show you soon enough."
They reach the bottom and Sehun signals for Kris and Baekhyun to stop walking forward. Sehun is pretty sure that the barrier is right before him now though he can’t be too sure.
He reaches out, his hand find nothing so he walks forward until his palm flattens on the strange barrier. Kris sucks in a breath behind him as does Baekhyun.
"What is this?" Baekhyun is now standing on the side of Sehun with his hands on the barrier.
Kris steps up next to him and does the same. "Does this go around the whole perimeter?" Kris asks.
Sehun nods. "Yixing walked around the whole temple, it surrounds it."
Kris sighs. "What the fuck is going on out here?" He turns around and leans against the barrier. Slowly he slides down it to the ground. "Joonmyun needs help and we are trapped here?" Kris is talking to himself now.
Sehun turns to see Baekhyun walking along the perimeter of the barrier letting his hand glide along it just as Yixing did not more than an hour ago. He keeps going until he takes the turn and is out of sight heading down the other side of the temple.
Sehun sinks down to the ground next to Kris. "I told you guys this was a bad idea." For just a moment he lets his hopelessness overtake him.
Kris turns to glare at him. "How were we supposed to know something so unthinkable was going to happen?" Kris says getting slightly worked up. “Things like this aren’t supposed to happen in real life.”
Before Baekhyun can return. A scream sounds from the top of the temple. It echoes off the strange barrier, bouncing around the confined space. Sehun and Kris are immediately on their feet. Kris starts running toward the stairs taking two at a time as he runs up. Sehun is close behind but his legs aren't as long as Kris's so he has more ground to cover. Baekhyun, whom must've been almost back to them is just starting to climb the stairs as Kris reaches the top.
Sehun reaches the top and immediately runs across the top of the temple over to where everyone has gathered in a circle.
Sehun has to throw his hand over his mouth to keep all noise from escaping his throat. Tears prick at his eyes at the sight.
Lying in a pool of blood near Luhan's feet is Minseok.
One of his eyes is destroyed and blood dribbles out his mouth. The sight is something straight out of a horror movie.
It's such ghastly sight that Sehun can't bear to look at. He turns away and retches onto the stones of the temple. Tears flow freely out of his eyes as he empties his stomach of water and energy bar.
It takes Sehun a while before he can compose himself enough to turn back around.
Kris, ever the calm one, asks the questions everyone needs answered. "What the fuck happened to him?"
Sehun watches as a million different things pass over Luhan's face. Then he settles on sorrow before shaking his head. "We heard him scream and then-." he sobs. Luhan falls to his knees on the ground. "Is he...." He trails off not able to finish his question.
Yixing pulls Luhan up off the ground and holds him against his chest tightly. "Everything is going to be okay." He says loud enough that every single person on top of the temple can hear him. He keeps is voice soothing and pleasant acting as if the words are true. He isn’t just trying to reassure Luhan alone, he is trying to reassure everyone.
Two minutes.
It takes Kris and Chanyeol two minutes to move Minseok’s body to the other side of the temple and bury him in the flowering vines that grow atop it.
Sehun looks around at the frightened group near the fire. Joonmyun and Jongdae have set their sleeping bags out and are lying close together whispering frantically to each other. Every now and then Joonmyun will moan in pain sending shivers up Sehun's spine. Joonmyun is suffering and needs help soon.
On Sehun's right Tao and Jongin sit as close to each other as they can get without being on top of one another. They haven't spoken a word since they sat down. They just sit their silently holding onto each other for dear life.
On Sehun's left Luhan sits with his legs pulled up to his chest rocking back and forth singing a soothing song to make himself feel better. Next to Luhan Yixing sits staring blankly at the fire, he looks like his mind is somewhere else.
To the left of Yixing Kris, Chanyeol, Baekhyun and Kyungsoo are sitting in a semi circle blocking everyone out as they try to talk about anything but what is happening.
Thirty minutes.
It takes thirty minutes before Joonmyun lashes out at Jongdae. He jumps to his feet as if the ground is on fire. All heads whip in his direction.
"Joonmyun what-"
"Shut the fuck up Luhan." Joonmyun sneers. "This is all your fault." He quickly closes the distance between himself and Luhan. He points his finger right in Luhan's face. "If you had just done what I said and went to the tourist temples we wouldn't be in this situation. But no, you had to take the map from that old lady selling vases by the ocean, you had to follow some poorly drawn map to the middle of fucking nowhere so we could all die out here." Joonmyun retracts his fist as if he is going to slam it into Luhan’s face.
Sehun reacts before his mind even catches up with his body. He tackles Joonmyun before the blow can ever even think of landing on Luhan's face.
"Joonmyun calm down!" Sehun yells as he holds Joonmyun down beneath him.
Jongdae pulls Sehun off Joonmyun. Joonmyun stands and glares at every single person. "We're all going to die up here." It happens much too fast. Joonmyun’s eyes roll back into his skull and his body hits the ground with a loud thump.
"Is he alright?" Tao asks quietly.
Jongdae turns away from Joonmyun’s body, his eyes blood shot. "He's-he's got no pulse. I think-" Jongdae falls forward resting his face against Joonmyun’s unmoving chest. He sobs into his shirt soaking it with tears instantly.
No one makes any move to pull him away. No one makes any move at all. Someone cries out Joonmyun’s name but other than the sound of Jongdae’s sobs it’s silent.
Five minutes.
It takes five minutes to pull Jongdae away from Joonmyun's lifeless body. That’s when Sehun notices it. Just as Kris and Chanyeol go to carry Joonmyun to the other side of the temple he sees it clear as day.
Something is alive and still moving beneath the skin of Joonmyun’s lifeless body. Sehun sees the strange movement in the skin of Joonmyun’s forehead for a split second before it’s gone.
He shudders at the sight and turns away. Sehun has a bad feeling this isn’t just some strange Mexican parasite.
When Chanyeol and Kris return they go back to where they had been sitting earlier. Jongin adds more wood to the fire to keep it burning and snuggles against Tao. The only sounds that can be heard is now the sound of insects and Jongdae’s broken sobs.
Ten minutes pass before anyone says anything to anyone.
"I'm sorry." Luhan says softly.
Jongdae sobs even harder at Luhan’s words. No one else acknowledges Luhan's apology. It's not his fault that something is killing them off one by one.
Sehun can’t blame Luhan for anything that has happened out here. He didn’t know this was what was to come.
"Why can't we leave?" Kyungsoo asks suddenly. "If we get out of here maybe no more of us will have to die."
Everyone but Kyungsoo and Jongdae know they are trapped here. Sehun looks away, he doesn't want to be the one to tell him the bad news. It’s going to make them panic and that is the last thing anyone needs to do right now.
Yixing stands up. "Something is trapping us here." he says slowly. "I don't know what or how it's even possible but we can't leave."
Kyungsoo stares with large eyes at him. Jongdae doesn't even flinch at the new information instead he says something strange. "He said there were flowers in his veins." He whispers.
"Joonmyun said that?" Chanyeol asks.
Jongdae nods. "He said they slithered in through his cut and made his skin their new home." Jongdae wipes away the stray tears that leak from his eyes. "I thought he was crazy but then Minseok…" He trails off leaving something out.
"Jongdae what happened to Minseok?" Kris asks.
Jongdae makes a strangled noise. "He said a plant cut him open. He said the vine was razor sharp and it cut him open. Then a little while later he said he thought he saw something green inside his cut. I was too concerned over Joonmyun to really listen to the similarities though." Jongdae starts to cry openly now.
"We can't stay here!" Baekhyun is on his feet and hysterical. "I can't watch all my friends die because, because I don't know what the fuck is happening!"
Chanyeol grabs Baekhyun around the waist and pulls him against his chest. "Shh Baekhyun, we're going to get out of here alive. Everything will be fine."
Sehun doesn't believe that Chanyeol’s words are even close to truth. More of them are going to die before the sun rises, maybe all of them.
v. Pueraria Lobata - Kudzu
Within the next hour things only get worse.
"Shit." Baekhyun says. He bends over with his finger in his mouth. "That damn rock cut me open."
Everyone shares a look. "Get it bandaged quickly." Luhan chucks the first aid kit he had thought to bring at Baekhyun. "Clean it with the peroxide and bandage it as tightly as you can manage. We don’t know much about what is happening but somehow it has to do with getting a wound."
Baekhyun nods and gets to work on the small cut on his index finger.
A whole hour passes in which nothing out of the ordinary happens.
"What the fuck are we supposed to do now?" Jongin asks suddenly breaking the silence that had been starting to get more comfortable as the minutes passed and no one panicked or died.
Luhan shakes his head. "We need to sleep at some point."
Sehun doesn't want to sleep. He doesn't think he'd even be able to if he tried.
Kris laughs dryly. "Yeah like any one of us will be able to sleep tonight."
They lapse back into silence. It’s better than having to talk about the problems they are being confronted with. It’s better than trying to face what lies at their feet.
13 minutes.
13 minutes later Baekhyun starts to curse loudly. He begins to get hysterical once again. Chanyeol goes to him to try and calm him down but Baekhyun lashes out punching him hard in the face.
The skin on Chanyeol’s cheekbone splits open. Blood slowly seeps out the fresh wound and runs down his cheek. Kris reacts first and he reacts fast, grabbing at the first aid kit and getting to work bandaging Chanyeol up as quickly as he can with his large hands.
Things only continue to get worse from this point.
Sehun isn’t sure if he’s right or not but he feels as if this right here is the turning point. Things are about to get so much worse than any of them ever could anticipate.
part ii
Sehun/Luhan, Kai/Tao, Suho/Chen, Kris/Chanyeol; Horror, The Ruins!AU; NC17; 10,112
Warnings: Character Death, Suicide
Sehun doesn't think vacationing in Mexico is a good idea. Turns out Sehun couldn't have been more right.
A/N: Read at your own risk. Seriously.
i. Hedera Helix - Ivy
Spring break was right around the corner. Most of the students were gone - partying somewhere away from the school that took so much of their time. Twelve boys sat out in the quad under the giant oak tree deciding what they were going to do this year. When they decided vacationing in Mexico, everyone had agreed to it, well not exactly everyone.
Sehun had a bad feeling about the whole vacation. It wasn’t going on vacation that bothered him, it was the destination the others had all chosen. Mexico. Sehun had never been and didn’t want to go either. Something about the whole idea was making him anxious. He had no clue why but he didn’t question it, he just went with his gut instinct.
Sehun had declined to go to Mexico with his friends. The feeling inside him was too strong to ignore so he decided it was best for him to just stay behind and let the others have their fun without him.
Luhan wasn’t going to accept this though. Luhan wasn’t just going to on a life changing trip to a different country without his best friend in the world. One way or another Luhan was going to get Sehun to go along with them.
Sehun groaned loudly as Luhan entered his room. It was a week before the trip and he knew Luhan was going to try and talk him into coming on the trip with them. If it was anyone else Sehun would have been able to resist but he could never resist Luhan. Luhan could talk Sehun into anything and the trip was no exception.
Luhan was Sehun’s greatest weakness, in actuality Luhan was Sehun’s only weakness. Most things that he did all were done because Luhan had something to with it.
If it wasn’t for Luhan’s strong argument, Sehun wouldn’t find himself a week later standing in the middle of a Mexican hotel room looking down at the crystal clear water of the pool below. He can see Tao, and Jongin swimming laps, probably racing each other, and Chanyeol and Kris lounging shirtless near the pool’s edge having a casual conversation.
Sehun turns away from the window and makes his way to his bed where he plops down lifelessly. Luhan isn’t in the room right now and Sehun is thankful for that. Luhan talked his ear off the whole flight without pause. Now Sehun just wants to be alone after the brutal flight here. In reality he just wants be in his own bed back in Seoul.
The feeling that had been building in Sehun has grown three times more intense since the plane landed in Mexico. Sehun tried to act like as if it wasn’t bothering him for the sake of his eleven friends who were all ecstatic to be in Mexico but it was too strong. His mood slowly brought everyone down. The feeling inside him was also bringing him down, dragging him into the pits of gloominess.
They had checked into the hotel a few hours earlier. Everyone split into groups of four so they could save money for other things instead of getting six rooms and wasting all their money. They didn’t have the money to waste. They were all a bunch of broke college students and plus Jongdae made a strong case about needing the money for alcohol.
The hotel itself wasn’t much to speak of. It’s rooms were simple, white walls, big windows, small television and two full size beds. It was just a normal hotel room that you could find at any hotel in any country.
Sehun, Luhan, Joonmyun and Jongdae are sharing a room while Tao, Lay, Jongin, and Baekhyun are in another leaving Kris, Chanyeol, Minseok and Kyungsoo to the third room. It doesn’t really matter since they will probably end up switching a couple times before they leave.
“Sehun!” Luhan bursts through the door closely followed by Jongdae whom is grinning ear to ear about something. “Sehun.” Luhan repeats. He plops down on the bed next to Sehun. “I’ve got great news!”
Sehun groans and covers his face with his hands. “Luhan no.” Sehun knows that whatever Luhan has to say is going to be something he doesn’t want any part of.
Luhan scoffs. "If you didn't want to come you should've have just stayed in Korea."
Sehun sits up and stares at Luhan with his mouth ajar. "You're the one who convinced me to go!" Sehun fires back at his friend.
Jongdae chuckles at the two of them. "All you guys ever do is argue. Luhan just tell him about the temple. I want to get going!" Sehun doesn’t like how excited Jongdae is. He only gets this excited over something that is likely to get them either arrested or killed.
Luhan sits up. "We're going to an ancient Mayan temple!" The smile on his face is too bright. Sehun wants to punch him.
"No." Sehun says simply.
Luhan pouts. "Come one Sehun don't you want to see an ancient temple? I thought you loved things like that."
Sehun sighs. In all honesty he does want to see something like that, it's a lot better than sitting around the hotel all day doing nothing. Plus you can’t go to Mexico and not do anything. "Where is this temple?" Sehun asks.
Luhan's face lights up. "It's not really a tourist attraction per say." Luhan won't make eye contact with Sehun. "It's one that's been recently discovered so not many people know about it. Actually only locals know about it."
Sehun shakes his head. "No."
"Come on Sehun live a little." Jongdae chimes in.
Luhan shoots Jongdae a glare before speaking again. "It's a few hours hike into the jungle. We were planning on camping on top of the temple for the night and heading back here tomorrow morning. It’s going to be like an impromptu camping trip!" Luhan is way too excited over this idea.
Sehun replays the words over and over in his head before he even thinks about making a decision. "We are going to camp on top of a Mayan temple that is recently discovered in the middle of the jungle?" He asks. Before either Luhan or Jongdae get a chance to answer Sehun breaks out into raucous laughter. "Are you all on crack or something? There’s no fucking way I am doing that. What if something happens to us?"
Luhan and Jongdae both glare at Sehun as he continues to laugh at their ludicrous idea.
Luhan waits until all of Sehun’s laughter has died down before he even attempts to speak again. "Sehun." Luhan starts. "All the rest of us are going so if you don't you will be all alone at the hotel for the rest of the night. You will go insane from boredom."
Sehun chokes back the last of his laughter and makes eye contact with Luhan. Is he really serious about this whole thing? They’re really going to camp out in the middle of the jungle at some temple they probably aren't even legally allowed to be? Sehun just looks back and forth between Jongdae and Luhan. Their faces don't change in expression.
"If I go with you will you leave me alone for the rest of the trip and let me do nothing like I had originally planned?" Sehun asks.
Luhan and Jongdae look at each other with large grins painted across their faces. "I told you we could get him to go." Luhan says.
"I didn't think it would be that easy." Jongdae say back to Luhan.
“I can get Sehun to do anything. He loves me.”
Sehun scoffs loudly. "Guys I’m sitting right here." Sehun says. They turn their stares on him and grin from ear to ear.
Luhan throws his arm over Sehun's shoulder. "We are going to have a blast." He says with a huge smile.
Sehun isn’t so sure about that.
ii. Wisteria sinensis - Chinese Wisteria
An hour later Sehun finds himself with all his friends standing in front of a trail that leads into the jungle. "This is it!" Luhan says cheerily from the back of the group. Sehun wants to punch Luhan so bad but he manages to resist the urge.
Sehun looks down the trail. The trees are thick, almost too thick to fit people between them. Does Luhan really plan on leading twelve people down this trail? Sehun wishes he stayed in the hotel room.
"Are you sure?" Baekhyun asks. He swats away the flies circling his head.
Luhan nods. "This is the only trail there is out here. It has to be it." Luhan looks down the dirt road in the direction from which they had just came.
The driver of the small bus that Luhan had somehow managed to use as a taxi, dropped them off at the begging of the dirt road and told them to walk the rest of the way. The road was much too narrow for the bus to journey down.
"How far do we have to go until we reach the temple?" Minseok asks. He is leaning against Kyungsoo, who hasn’t spoken a word since they got off the bus. They both look exhausted already and they still have to keep walking.
Luhan looks down at his small map. "It's a good three hour hike or more from this point, maybe longer." He shoves the map back into his pocket.
The group groans as one. They are already tired from walking an hour down the narrow dirt road.
"If you guys don't want to go the rest of the way we can just make camp here and wait till morning for the bus to pick us up." Luhan says.
Sehun wants to say yes to this idea but instead he stays quiet as does everyone else.
"Well then let's get hiking!" Luhan says when no one speaks. Luhan is way to cheery. Sehun wants to punch the cheeriness out of him as usual.
---
It’s not until two hours later that they stop to take a break. By this time everyone is drenched in sweat and dehydrated. They walked for two hours straight without stopping.
Sehun hasn’t walked that long or far in almost five years.
Everyone drops to the ground pulling out water and food like their life depends on it.
Sehun pulls out an energy bar and drops to the ground. He rips is shirt over his head before shoving the bar into his mouth.
"We should be getting close." Luhan sits down next to Sehun on the ground taking out a bottle of water from his pack. His white shirt is completely drenched as if he just went swimming. He drinks half of his water in one large swig and hands it over to Sehun. "Want some?" Sehun takes the bottle and finishes the rest of the liquid easily.
"Where is Jongin?" Tao stands up looking around furiously.
Sehun looks around at the faces of his friends and realizes Jongin is definitely missing. There’s so many of them it’s hard to tell when one of them isn’t present.
Luhan stands up and looks around. "When did you last see him?"
Tao shakes his head. "He was right behind me when we were walking but I didn't really turn around to look so I can't be sure." Tao is starting to sound panicked.
"Maybe he just had to piss." Chanyeol and Kris look completely unconcerned with the whole situation.
They wait another ten minutes before Tao starts to freak out again. "What if something happened to him? I mean he could be lost out there!”
Kris pulls Tao aside and starts whispering frantically to him, trying to calm him down. Kris and Tao have known each other than anyone else in the group. They’ve been friends almost since they day they were born.
Whatever Kris says to Tao seems to work. Tao sits down calmly and stares in the direction they just came from.
Another five minutes later and Jongin arrives. He stops walking as all eyes are on him. It takes him a moment to realize that something is amiss.
Tao is the first one to him. He pulls Jongin into his arms. When he pulls away anger fills his features. "What the fuck Jongin!" Tao pushes Jongin away from him. "Don't just wander off like that! We're in the middle of fucking nowhere!" Tao continues to yell at poor Jongin about getting lost and eaten in the jungle and a million other absurd things that could’ve happened to Jongin.
Jongin looks sheepishly at the ground like a scolded child. "Sorry." He mutters still looking down at his feet. “I just got a little lost everything looks the same out here.”
Tao huffs as he moves away from Jongin, plopping down onto the ground next to Sehun and pulling out an energy bar. Sehun watches Tao eat angrily at the energy bar, taking large bites and all the while glaring at Jongin.
They start moving again in fifteen minutes. Luhan and Joonmyun lead the group deeper into the forest. Tao and Sehun take up the rear walking side by side tiredly. The forest has started to thin out and it’s easier to navigate now. Sehun can barely lift his feet any longer from tiredness but he perseveres and keeps moving forward.
"Whose brilliant idea was this?" Sehun asks shortly after they climb a small hill. His lungs strain for air.
Tao wipes the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand and stops walking to catch his breath. Sehun is appreciative for the little break. "Luhan, Chanyeol, and Kris." Tao answers. “They had been planning something like this before we even left but mostly Luhan. Chanyeol and Kris just wanted to go to one of the tourists temples. Luhan wanted to find this one.”
Sehun grinds his teeth. Luhan is always coming up with the most ridiculous things to do, things that not many other people would even dream of doing but this, this is the most out there thing that Luhan has planned to date. So far at least.
Another hour passes by in which time they are all drenched in sweat from head to toe. The jungle seems to get hotter and hotter as they go further in.
Sehun is pretty sure that he has over a thousand mosquito bites plus all the other insect bites he has been collecting. He is really starting to hate this trip.
Sehun and Tao finally hear the words they have been waiting for since starting this journey hours ago. Sehun almost falls to his knees right there on the trail he is so happy.
"We made it!" Luhan yells excitedly.
Sehun and Tao look at each other and both let out sighs of relief at the same time.
“Thank god.” Tao mumbles stumbling out of the jungle. Sehun stumble out of the trees right behind Tao.
The temple is exactly as Sehun had pictured it albeit a lot more grown in, with flowering vines covering most if not all of the stone, but it still looks just as the Mayan temples look in pictures.
Breathtaking.
"Whoa." Yixing says.
They all stand there in a horizontal line in front of the temple just taking in the whole sight. The mountains in the background make it seem like something right off the television screen except this is all real.
It’s the most beautiful thing that Sehun has ever seen with his own eyes.
"This is amazing." Jongin breathes from somewhere down the line. Sehun couldn’t agree more.
Sehun says nothing as he stares at the temple. A strange feeling of dread fills his being so suddenly it shakes him to the core. "Guys." He whispers.
None of them hear him, they are all too busy admiring the temple.
"Guys something is wrong." Sehun says it a little more loudly. Yixing on his left hears him along with Luhan on his right. The others don't though, they are so transfixed with what stands before them.
"What do you mean?" Luhan asks turning to Sehun.
Sehun swallows the lump in his throat and shrugs. "I don't know something just feels off about this place. Maybe we should go..." Sehun trails off.
Baekhyun and Jongdae take off running towards the stairs that lead up to the top of the temple. Their laughter could probably be heard from miles away. Sehun swallows the lump in his throat as he watches his friends.
Before Sehun can call out and get them to stop and come back they are already on the stairs and ascending the temple quickly. Luhan laughs as Kris and Chanyeol are next to run for the stairs. Sehun watches in horror as they climb the mountainous stairway to the top.
Something is wrong here. The air has a charge to it that make Sehun want to turn and run away as fast as his legs will allow him.
Sehun takes a step backwards. The feeling he had been feeling ever since the idea of going to Mexico has intensified so bad that he can barely keep the contents of his stomach in. His legs threaten to collapse beneath his body weight.
"Sehun what’s wrong?" Yixing is staring at Sehun with wide worry filled eyes. "Are you sick or something?"
Sehun shakes his head. "We just need to get back to the hote-" Everything goes black.
iii. Bougainvillea Spectabilis - Bougainvillea
Sehun wakes up with a raging headache. The pain is too intense for him to even open his eyes. He slowly tries to move but pain shoots down his limbs even at the slightest movement. Sehun clenches his fist and does all he can do. He waits for the pain to fade away.
When the pain finally ebbs away Sehun slowly sits up. He opens his eyes even slower and when he does he prays that what he sees isn't reality. He prays that he is still passed out near the edge of the jungle.
He stares out at the jungle from the top of the temple. Terror fills him. He can see the mountains that surround them perfectly from so high up. It’s so high he feels like he is in the sky. The clouds seem so close.
"Oh, Sehun you're awake. Are you feeling better?" Yixing crouches down next to Sehun.
Sehun shakes his head. "No. Why am I up here? I told Luhan... What happened?" Sehun’s mind is racing. Luhan never listens to so why did he think he would this time? Obviously Luhan doesn’t care how worried Sehun was about this place.
“You passed out Sehun. You must’ve been exhausted from the hike.”
Sehun clenches his fists in his lap. He turns to Yixing. "No, that’s not why I passed out. We can't stay here." The urgency in his voice scares even himself.
Yixing's eyes widen. "What's wrong Sehun? You've been acting strange since we got here."
Sehun shakes his head. "I don't know. I just have this feeling that something terrible is going to happen. We need to get away from here."
To Sehun's surprise Yixing nods. "I'll try to convince the others. I don’t like it here anymore than you. This place give off a strange vibe.” He sighs and gets to his feet. "Luhan and Kris aren't going to listen easily though, they think this is the best thing that has ever happened to them." Sehun watches Yixing run his hand through his hair, a thing he only ever does when something is bothering him badly.
Sehun watches Yixing make his way to Luhan.
Sehun looks away before he can see the expression on Luhan's face. Luhan isn't going to be happy about this but at this point Sehun couldn’t care less. He passed out from his strange feeling that this place gave him that should be enough to make Luhan leave without a second thought.
But of course not. Luhan is too selfishly absorbed with this little adventure. He isn’t seeing the bigger picture.
Yixing sits down next to Sehun a few minutes later. "Luhan said that whoever wanted to leave was free to leave with me and you. He said that he is staying and whoever wants to stay can." Yixing sounds tired. "We can leave soon if you still want to."
Sehun nods. There is no way that he is going to stay the night out here.
Yixing gathers all of his, plus Sehun’s things. He helps Sehun to his feet and hands him his pack. “Ready?” Yixing asks.
Tao and Jongin coming running over right before they are about to leave. "We aren't staying here." Tao says. "This place is creepy."
Jongin nods. "Who knows what happened here in the past. People could’ve been sacrifices or something. They did that kind of thing at these temples.”
Sehun is glad he isn’t the only one this place is creeping out. It makes him feel less crazy.
The four of them wait to make sure no one else wants to leave with them. When no one comes over they begin to descend the stairs in a single file formation. Yixing is in the front and Jongin is in the back. They are silent the whole hike down.
They reach the bottom just as the sun begins to dip below the horizon. Sehun takes a minute to admire the beautiful sunset. It almost looks as if the sky is on fire. It’s a sight that he will never get to witness from his dorm back at the college.
The four of them stand there staring at the horizon for a few moments. They stay silent as they take in the breath taking sight before them.
"Well we won't make it back to the road before it's dark." Tao says breaking the peace. "But I don't want to be anywhere near this place when it gets dark so let’s get out of here."
Sehun agrees with Tao wholeheartedly. He doesn’t want to be near this place any time during the day let alone the night. Sehun starts to move away from the temple taking giant steps to take him away quicker.
That's when something strange happens. Sehun runs right into a barrier. One that he can't see with his eyes. "What the fuck?" He rubs his forehead where it hit.
"What's wrong?" Jongin steps up beside Sehun.
"I, uh." Sehun doesn't want to say anything in case he has gone completely insane. Maybe it’s just a delusion.
"Ouch!" Tao yells from a few feet away. "What the fuck is this?" Sehun and Jongin turn to see Tao placing his hands against something, something that they can’t see but is definitely there.
Something solid stands in their way.
Yixing reaches out with a tentative hand. Sure enough his palm flattens against something. "There's something here." He says stating the now obvious. “It feels like glass.” His brow furrows in confusion. Yixing starts to walk letting his hand glide on whatever strange thing is keeping them from moving forward.
Sehun watches in complete and utter fright as Yixing keeps going until he takes a sudden right hand turn and goes down the other side of the temple out of sight.
Sehun, Tao, and Jongin stay where they are, hands on the weird barrier waiting for Yixing to return. He does ten minutes later. "It goes around the whole entire temple." He says. Panic fills Yixing’s eyes. “We’re trapped here.”
Now the fear in Sehun's chest is from something real. They are now trapped by something they can't even see.
"How is something like this even possible?" Jongin asks as he rubs his hand against the barrier. His voice doesn’t sound panicked just deadened like he has no feeling left inside him.
Yixing shrugs. "I don't know but I do know one thing. We aren't leaving until whatever this is, is gone."
Panic feels Sehun. He looks at each of his friends. They are scared, maybe even more so than he himself is.
“What do we do now?” Tao asks.
Yixing sighs and shrugs at the same time. “There’s nothing we can do.”
They have no choice but to climb the stairs and go back to the top. "Sorry Sehun but it looks as though we aren’t leaving tonight." Yixing says. He rubs his hand in a soothing circle on the small of Sehun's back. Sehun doesn't feel at all better by the touch though. Nothing can shake the terrible feeling that still continues to build inside him.
Something tells him this is only the beginning. It’s going to be a long dreadful night.
iv. Ipomoea Purpurea - Morning Glory
They decide not to tell Luhan about the strange barrier keeping them inside. It’s better if they don’t tell the others, they don’t want to create a panic. Sehun doesn’t think they would believe it anyways.
“We’ll just wait till morning.” Yixing says as the walk up the stairs. “It should be gone by then. If it’s not gone by then we will panic.”
They reach the top and slowly make their way over to where the others are sitting around a small fire. They are being strangely quiet, no one is speaking, not even Luhan or Chanyeol.
As Sehun, Yixing, Tao and Jongin draw closer they can see that something is wrong.
“What are you guys doing here?” Luhan is the first to spot them. He stands up and walks up to Yixing. “I thought you left.” His voice is shaky and concerned.
Yixing shakes his head. “We didn’t want to walk through the jungle, it’s too dark.” Yixing lies.
Luhan nods. “Well…” Luhan trails off.
Sehun can sense that something is wrong. “What’s wrong Luhan? What happened?”
Luhan turns and stares at Sehun. “It’s Joonmyun. Something- I’m not really sure.” Luhan glances at Joonmyun who is sitting next to Jongdae with a grim look on his face.
“What happened to Joonmyun?” Jongin whispers.
Luhan shakes his head. “He was laughing and all fine one second and the next he was screaming. He thought something was crawling beneath his skin.” Luhan looks terrified as he says this. “We looked at his arm where he said he felt it but there is nothing there except a shallow cut.”
Sehun feels his blood turn to ice in his veins.
Luhan wrings his hands and then looks over at Joonmyun and Jongdae. “Whatever it is though it’s really bothering him. He won’t let Jongdae get more than a foot away from him without freaking out. Something is definitely not right with him. I’m really worried.”
They stand there a little ways away from the others in silence.
The silence doesn’t last long.
“Luhan!” Jongdae yells suddenly breaking the less than peaceful silence.
Luhan starts heading to Jongdae. Sehun follows close behind. He can hear the urgency in Jongdae’s voice.
“What’s wrong?” Luhan asks.
Jongdae shakes his head. “He’s not crazy.” Jongdae gasps. “There-there was something crawling under his skin.” Jongdae’s voice shakes and Sehun watches as he slowly starts to unravel as he continues to speak. “There’s something inside him.”
Luhan takes a step away from the two of them . “What?” He asks dumbly.
“Maybe it’s some story of parasite.” Yixing states.
Joonmyun holds his arm out so everyone can get a good look at his arm.
Jongin takes one look and is releasing the contents of his stomach into some of the vines on the other side of the temple. Tao is rubbing his back soothingly as he vomits up everything he’s got.
Sehun is morbidly transfixed on the defined, worm like shapes moving beneath the skin of Joonmyun's arm. The shallow cut which Luhan had told them about is not shallow any longer. Sehun can see down to the bone, the edges of the cut are black like coal.
"We need to get him to a hospital!" Jongdae screeches loudly.
The sun has set and the light is starting to fade quickly. Soon their only source of light will be from the fire and the flashlights they brought along with them. Sehun isn’t looking forward to the darkness but at this point no one is.
Luhan runs a hand through his hair and starts to pace back and forth. All eyes are glued to him, waiting for him to call the shots since this trip was mostly his idea.
"Yes, that has to be a parasite in his cut. We need to get Joonmyun to the hospital." Luhan decides after a minute.
Sehun swallows the lump in his throat. He looks to Yixing searching for the answer to his question.
Luhan starts to look frantically around at everyone. "Get packing." He orders.
Before anyone can move Yixing pulls Luhan aside. He starts whispering into his ear not loud enough for any of the others to hear him. Sehun is close enough to catch a few words though. Trapped, barrier, screwed. Luhan's face goes from utter terror to something even worse. He starts to whisper back to Yixing. Yixing exhales a shaky breath and nods but says nothing more to Luhan.
When they stop whispering to each other Luhan turns to everyone. "Kris, take Baekhyun and go to the bottom of the temple." Luhan says. Then Luan turns to Sehun. "Sehun you go with them and explain things on the way down.” Sehun nods. He's just glad he doesn't have to stay up here. Luhan continues “Everyone else pack up everything and be ready to leave soon."
Sehun leads Kris and Baekhyun towards the steps. As they start to descend Sehun knows what he has to tell his friends. He takes a deep breath. "We can't leave." He says simply.
Kris grunts. "Why not?"
Sehun takes another deep breath. "You’re not going to believe me but there is something keeping us from leaving. It's hard to explain, I'll show you soon enough."
They reach the bottom and Sehun signals for Kris and Baekhyun to stop walking forward. Sehun is pretty sure that the barrier is right before him now though he can’t be too sure.
He reaches out, his hand find nothing so he walks forward until his palm flattens on the strange barrier. Kris sucks in a breath behind him as does Baekhyun.
"What is this?" Baekhyun is now standing on the side of Sehun with his hands on the barrier.
Kris steps up next to him and does the same. "Does this go around the whole perimeter?" Kris asks.
Sehun nods. "Yixing walked around the whole temple, it surrounds it."
Kris sighs. "What the fuck is going on out here?" He turns around and leans against the barrier. Slowly he slides down it to the ground. "Joonmyun needs help and we are trapped here?" Kris is talking to himself now.
Sehun turns to see Baekhyun walking along the perimeter of the barrier letting his hand glide along it just as Yixing did not more than an hour ago. He keeps going until he takes the turn and is out of sight heading down the other side of the temple.
Sehun sinks down to the ground next to Kris. "I told you guys this was a bad idea." For just a moment he lets his hopelessness overtake him.
Kris turns to glare at him. "How were we supposed to know something so unthinkable was going to happen?" Kris says getting slightly worked up. “Things like this aren’t supposed to happen in real life.”
Before Baekhyun can return. A scream sounds from the top of the temple. It echoes off the strange barrier, bouncing around the confined space. Sehun and Kris are immediately on their feet. Kris starts running toward the stairs taking two at a time as he runs up. Sehun is close behind but his legs aren't as long as Kris's so he has more ground to cover. Baekhyun, whom must've been almost back to them is just starting to climb the stairs as Kris reaches the top.
Sehun reaches the top and immediately runs across the top of the temple over to where everyone has gathered in a circle.
Sehun has to throw his hand over his mouth to keep all noise from escaping his throat. Tears prick at his eyes at the sight.
Lying in a pool of blood near Luhan's feet is Minseok.
One of his eyes is destroyed and blood dribbles out his mouth. The sight is something straight out of a horror movie.
It's such ghastly sight that Sehun can't bear to look at. He turns away and retches onto the stones of the temple. Tears flow freely out of his eyes as he empties his stomach of water and energy bar.
It takes Sehun a while before he can compose himself enough to turn back around.
Kris, ever the calm one, asks the questions everyone needs answered. "What the fuck happened to him?"
Sehun watches as a million different things pass over Luhan's face. Then he settles on sorrow before shaking his head. "We heard him scream and then-." he sobs. Luhan falls to his knees on the ground. "Is he...." He trails off not able to finish his question.
Yixing pulls Luhan up off the ground and holds him against his chest tightly. "Everything is going to be okay." He says loud enough that every single person on top of the temple can hear him. He keeps is voice soothing and pleasant acting as if the words are true. He isn’t just trying to reassure Luhan alone, he is trying to reassure everyone.
Two minutes.
It takes Kris and Chanyeol two minutes to move Minseok’s body to the other side of the temple and bury him in the flowering vines that grow atop it.
Sehun looks around at the frightened group near the fire. Joonmyun and Jongdae have set their sleeping bags out and are lying close together whispering frantically to each other. Every now and then Joonmyun will moan in pain sending shivers up Sehun's spine. Joonmyun is suffering and needs help soon.
On Sehun's right Tao and Jongin sit as close to each other as they can get without being on top of one another. They haven't spoken a word since they sat down. They just sit their silently holding onto each other for dear life.
On Sehun's left Luhan sits with his legs pulled up to his chest rocking back and forth singing a soothing song to make himself feel better. Next to Luhan Yixing sits staring blankly at the fire, he looks like his mind is somewhere else.
To the left of Yixing Kris, Chanyeol, Baekhyun and Kyungsoo are sitting in a semi circle blocking everyone out as they try to talk about anything but what is happening.
Thirty minutes.
It takes thirty minutes before Joonmyun lashes out at Jongdae. He jumps to his feet as if the ground is on fire. All heads whip in his direction.
"Joonmyun what-"
"Shut the fuck up Luhan." Joonmyun sneers. "This is all your fault." He quickly closes the distance between himself and Luhan. He points his finger right in Luhan's face. "If you had just done what I said and went to the tourist temples we wouldn't be in this situation. But no, you had to take the map from that old lady selling vases by the ocean, you had to follow some poorly drawn map to the middle of fucking nowhere so we could all die out here." Joonmyun retracts his fist as if he is going to slam it into Luhan’s face.
Sehun reacts before his mind even catches up with his body. He tackles Joonmyun before the blow can ever even think of landing on Luhan's face.
"Joonmyun calm down!" Sehun yells as he holds Joonmyun down beneath him.
Jongdae pulls Sehun off Joonmyun. Joonmyun stands and glares at every single person. "We're all going to die up here." It happens much too fast. Joonmyun’s eyes roll back into his skull and his body hits the ground with a loud thump.
"Is he alright?" Tao asks quietly.
Jongdae turns away from Joonmyun’s body, his eyes blood shot. "He's-he's got no pulse. I think-" Jongdae falls forward resting his face against Joonmyun’s unmoving chest. He sobs into his shirt soaking it with tears instantly.
No one makes any move to pull him away. No one makes any move at all. Someone cries out Joonmyun’s name but other than the sound of Jongdae’s sobs it’s silent.
Five minutes.
It takes five minutes to pull Jongdae away from Joonmyun's lifeless body. That’s when Sehun notices it. Just as Kris and Chanyeol go to carry Joonmyun to the other side of the temple he sees it clear as day.
Something is alive and still moving beneath the skin of Joonmyun’s lifeless body. Sehun sees the strange movement in the skin of Joonmyun’s forehead for a split second before it’s gone.
He shudders at the sight and turns away. Sehun has a bad feeling this isn’t just some strange Mexican parasite.
When Chanyeol and Kris return they go back to where they had been sitting earlier. Jongin adds more wood to the fire to keep it burning and snuggles against Tao. The only sounds that can be heard is now the sound of insects and Jongdae’s broken sobs.
Ten minutes pass before anyone says anything to anyone.
"I'm sorry." Luhan says softly.
Jongdae sobs even harder at Luhan’s words. No one else acknowledges Luhan's apology. It's not his fault that something is killing them off one by one.
Sehun can’t blame Luhan for anything that has happened out here. He didn’t know this was what was to come.
"Why can't we leave?" Kyungsoo asks suddenly. "If we get out of here maybe no more of us will have to die."
Everyone but Kyungsoo and Jongdae know they are trapped here. Sehun looks away, he doesn't want to be the one to tell him the bad news. It’s going to make them panic and that is the last thing anyone needs to do right now.
Yixing stands up. "Something is trapping us here." he says slowly. "I don't know what or how it's even possible but we can't leave."
Kyungsoo stares with large eyes at him. Jongdae doesn't even flinch at the new information instead he says something strange. "He said there were flowers in his veins." He whispers.
"Joonmyun said that?" Chanyeol asks.
Jongdae nods. "He said they slithered in through his cut and made his skin their new home." Jongdae wipes away the stray tears that leak from his eyes. "I thought he was crazy but then Minseok…" He trails off leaving something out.
"Jongdae what happened to Minseok?" Kris asks.
Jongdae makes a strangled noise. "He said a plant cut him open. He said the vine was razor sharp and it cut him open. Then a little while later he said he thought he saw something green inside his cut. I was too concerned over Joonmyun to really listen to the similarities though." Jongdae starts to cry openly now.
"We can't stay here!" Baekhyun is on his feet and hysterical. "I can't watch all my friends die because, because I don't know what the fuck is happening!"
Chanyeol grabs Baekhyun around the waist and pulls him against his chest. "Shh Baekhyun, we're going to get out of here alive. Everything will be fine."
Sehun doesn't believe that Chanyeol’s words are even close to truth. More of them are going to die before the sun rises, maybe all of them.
v. Pueraria Lobata - Kudzu
Within the next hour things only get worse.
"Shit." Baekhyun says. He bends over with his finger in his mouth. "That damn rock cut me open."
Everyone shares a look. "Get it bandaged quickly." Luhan chucks the first aid kit he had thought to bring at Baekhyun. "Clean it with the peroxide and bandage it as tightly as you can manage. We don’t know much about what is happening but somehow it has to do with getting a wound."
Baekhyun nods and gets to work on the small cut on his index finger.
A whole hour passes in which nothing out of the ordinary happens.
"What the fuck are we supposed to do now?" Jongin asks suddenly breaking the silence that had been starting to get more comfortable as the minutes passed and no one panicked or died.
Luhan shakes his head. "We need to sleep at some point."
Sehun doesn't want to sleep. He doesn't think he'd even be able to if he tried.
Kris laughs dryly. "Yeah like any one of us will be able to sleep tonight."
They lapse back into silence. It’s better than having to talk about the problems they are being confronted with. It’s better than trying to face what lies at their feet.
13 minutes.
13 minutes later Baekhyun starts to curse loudly. He begins to get hysterical once again. Chanyeol goes to him to try and calm him down but Baekhyun lashes out punching him hard in the face.
The skin on Chanyeol’s cheekbone splits open. Blood slowly seeps out the fresh wound and runs down his cheek. Kris reacts first and he reacts fast, grabbing at the first aid kit and getting to work bandaging Chanyeol up as quickly as he can with his large hands.
Things only continue to get worse from this point.
Sehun isn’t sure if he’s right or not but he feels as if this right here is the turning point. Things are about to get so much worse than any of them ever could anticipate.
part ii