Switchblade (Nanowrimo version, 1-5)
As mentioned in the notes of Switchblade, it was originally a different story that I wrote for Nanowrimo. Well.. here's the first five chapters of my Nanowrimo version. I'm posting it cause I'm bored? LOL You can see how drastically different the two are. Cool, so, here it is.
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A dreamless sleep faded away and Taemin heard the unpleasant sound of a sobbing male voice. The pleading words repeated in a quiet, shaking chant. "Forgive me, forgive me." The deep tone to the voice was familiar, but it was unrecognizable that way, between sobs and wet heavy breaths.
There was something so deeply somber about the sound that listening caused a pain in Taemin’s chest. He opened his eyes to a blur of light. His sight needed a moment to adjust before he could figure out that the light came from a nearby doorway. It was just a few feet away, beyond white metal bars attached to the bed that he laid in. He could recognize it as a hospital bed, because his previous memories of hospitals stayed with him well. For a moment, that was all he knew. He was in a hospital bed and someone was crying.
Memories of what happened before he fell into his dreamless sleep returned slowly. That pain in his chest spread as he reflected on the horrible moments that led up to his current state. As the memory became clearer, it seemed his sight did as well. It was still dark and a tired fog was still hindering his vision, but he could recognize a figure sitting in a chair by the door now.
Onew’s head was in his hands as he cried for forgiveness. His voice still sounded almost like it belonged to someone else. At least Taemin thought so, sure that he’d never heard the vampire cry before. "Forgive me", Onew was asking.
Taemin opened his mouth. He wanted to forgive him.
He just couldn’t.
Switchblade
Chapter 1
The next time that Taemin opened his eyes, the room was filled with light. Strangely, all of that light didn’t seem as bright as the light from the night before. The room he was in was ordinary. Nothing set it apart from other hospital rooms that Taemin had found himself in before. It made him feel a little sick just being there. Hospitals suck. He would need to call a nurse and all of that, go through some weird check out process, never be able to pay the bills...
He spent too long thinking of insignificant problems like that one. That was just more simple than thinking of what was really going on. Even when he did get out of the hospital, he was going to have to search hard to find his path again. He had no idea where his mom was, no idea where the other hunters were, and as far as his best friend went...
"Onew." Taemin suddenly said out loud, and he tried to sit up and turn toward the chair that the vampire sat in the night before. It hurt. His stomach hurt so bad. He laid back down fast and looked down to discover the source of that pain. He could feel bandages around his abdomen now that he paid attention, although they must have been beneath the hospital gown that he wore. He had been stabbed. Onew saved him. That was the last thing he remembered before...
Onew's crying, begging form was so vivid in his mind but so surreal that thinking back on it made it feel more like a dream. Taemin looked back to the chair that Onew had sat in. There was a box there now, although he wasn't exactly in any condition to get up and grab it. He looked around and eventually found a button to press for a nurse. He pressed it once with a frown. How long would he be stuck here recovering? What if the vampires found him before he could get out?
"The bad kind of vampires." Taemin quickly added to his inner thoughts. It was an unpopular belief, but he was determined to believe that there were some good vampires out there. Even if that belief did originally come because of Onew. Even if just last night, he found Onew impossible to forgive.. but that had been wrong. What had Onew really done? Wasn’t he a victim too? Didn’t he deserve forgiveness?
"Vampires can be good." Taemin thought that resolutely.
After a while, a nurse finally came in. A male in light green scrubs with a big name tag that identified him as hospital personnel. "Lee Taemin. Finally woke up?" he asked. Taemin cringed. He didn't like how his full name sounded any more. He'd heard it used by the wrong people too many times.
"My friend left that for me, I think." Taemin said now, nodding towards the box in the chair.
"Your friend.." the nurse mumbled, looking back to the box. "Should I bring it to you?"
"Yes, please."
The nurse picked it up, carrying it to the hospital bed. "I'm Doojoon." he said. Taemin already knew. It was on his gigantic name tag. Taemin just took the box, staring at it without opening it. He didn't need to respond to Doojoon. Doojoon already knew his name.
The nurse must have felt uncomfortable with the silence, cause he cleared his throat awkwardly. "The police are going to want to speak with you." He took a breath, "And maybe you should watch the news, you're.. well, you're on it. There's a lot of press that wants to speak with you too."
Taemin just stared at the box, unable to feel too surprised by any of this news. He didn't know what he'd say though - not to the police, not to the media. Even now, he felt like he had nothing to say to the nurse. Nothing to say.. he just needed to leave, and fast, and.. without speaking. Could he fake being mute? He was so deep in thought that he didn't hear Doojoon's explanations of his wounds. Despite this, when Doojoon questioned him, he nodded his head like he understood. Finally, the nurse left.
So Taemin opened the box, easily lifting it's lid and setting it to the side.
A post-it on top of the rest said "Leave." Taemin stuck it to the side of the box and couldn't help but smile finally. His silver switchblade, passed down to him from his grandfather, laid on top of a pile of scrubs. Beneath those, shoes, and even underwear. This wouldn't be the first time Taemin disguised himself with scrubs. It hurt his heart to think of that first time, along with Onew, the vampire that caused all of this...
He would find forgiveness for him. Onew did deserve that much, Taemin decided. For now, whatever the case, Taemin needed to trust the vampire because he had nothing else to go off of. He couldn't easily stay here anyway, stuck to answer questions he barely knew the answer to. He tried sitting up again and it hurt so much. He grunted loud and bit his lip, looking to the door with his tearing eyes to check that no one was coming. He had to do this quick and quiet.
He tried again, keeping his teeth digging into his bottom lip as he only half sat up this time, and maneuvered his legs over the barred hospital bed. He couldn't help the whining he did against his lips and only kept it as quiet as he could. In fact, by the time he was standing, his eyes were streaming tears. He stood as straight as he could, dealing with the pain because he had to. He’d probably busted some stitches with that. He continued to whimper as he changed clothes, cringing with his every painful move.
The hardest was the underwear and the pants. He had to lean against the wall to pull them on, and he thought he might pass out from the pain. He worried that soon he was going to be bleeding through those bandages wrapped around his torso.
Fast. He just needed to do this fast. Finally, he dropped the shoes on the floor and stuck his feet in. His heels remained on the back of them, but he was in too much of a hurry to fit them on any better than that. He closed the box, his switchblade remaining in it, and he practiced walking shortly. He knew he must be doing it funny. One foot kept getting ahead of the other, and well, he knew his face was a constant grimace.
There wasn’t really any choice to make about this. He just had to move. Grimacing and looking funny or not, Taemin fast walked out of the room. That was the key. Fast, quiet, keeping his head down. There would be no problems like this. "Just go, just go, just go." he whispered to himself. The problem quickly became that he didn’t know his way around the place, and keeping your head down isn’t exactly helpful when it comes to reading hospital signs.
He kept glancing up, and when he did, he’d take the moment to wipe tears off his face. Every step was pain. Maybe he was killing himself like this. At times, when his vision blurred, he wondered if he’d see black soon. Die, just like Hongki and Minseok. "Faster. Just go, just go, just go." His voice broke, and he was eventually speaking louder, wanting to cry as he hurriedly moved through the halls without being sure of his direction. "Please, please, please, please.."
"Hey.." a woman’s voice called. They weren’t talking to him. Keep moving. "Hey!" it said again. It was too close. Taemin walked faster, but a hand caught his shoulder and he froze. "Are you okay?"
Taemin looked over his shoulder at the woman. She was a nurse, no one he knew, but her eyes rounded at the sight of him. "Lee Taemin?" she questioned and he flinched. There was his name again. There was nothing else he could do now. Weak and in pain, tears pouring, Taemin ran forward with all his strength. He heard her call after him. He heard her scream for help. Why’d she have to do that? He was escaping for a reason!
He wouldn’t outrun anyone who came after him, not in this condition, and he knew it. He should hide, he thought, but when he looked around he saw nowhere safe to do it. Besides, she had sight of him. His heart pounded. It was adrenaline that kept him moving. Oh, why didn’t Onew take him out of here last night? Even if no one would catch him, he’d pass out before he made it to the door.
Then, there it was. A brightly lit exit sign. It just happened to be across the lobby. There was a whole group of really serious looking people. Taemin could see the badges. It was a hospital, so they could be here for anyone, but he didn‘t want to be seen. Not now. He slowed down. He lifted his hand to his face in a pretty obvious gesture, but what more did he have? He realized he was shaking, though, because his teeth were chattering as he tried to keep them together to stop the sounds.
After all he’d been through.. who would want to talk to police now? Who would want to talk to anyone, in his position? Taemin hadn’t even been able to speak to Onew. He couldn’t even say, "I forgive you"...
He noticed odd looks. The odd looks soon became suspicious looks. "Keep going, just go.." He heard someone call out, maybe to him, maybe not - just as he reached the door. He shoved it open and the bright, real light of day made him squint. Taemin wasn’t really used to being out in the sunlight any more. This light was particularly blinding because of how it shined against the piles of snow around on the ground. It was freezing. Taemin almost appreciated that. It was numbing.
There was a crowd of reporters making it hard for people to get in and out. Some fights were going on just because of that. He was on TV, right? Taemin didn’t want to see. He didn’t need to be involved with the media. He needed to leave, to find anyone. He wanted to think Onew would be near. "Onew, if you find me tonight, I will forgive you, I promise.." he mumbled it out loud as he walked, keeping his head down again, but looking awfully suspicious in the freezing weather, wearing only scrubs, shaking in pain or because of the cold or whatever.
He made eye contact with someone who called out to him, "Doctor! Can I have a word?"
Taemin turned in another direction, looking for the emptiest space to walk in. He wouldn’t blend in with a crowd even if he tried. "Please, please." he kept mumbling. "I hate this, I hate this so much."
Where could he go? Why didn’t he even think of that when he was hurting himself getting these clothes on? Why couldn’t Onew have left him real clothes?
Lost, in pain, empty, Taemin thought about death and wondered if it was time to invite it yet. Then he saw an angel. Not an angel, his mother. She stood over in a crowd. She was talking to reporters, but he didn’t care. He wandered towards her and called her softly, "Mom..."
His mom was supposed to be hiding. Why was she out here talking to reporters? Especially when he’d been inside, by himself...
When he got closer, his heart sunk. He heard that familiar slur in his mother’s voice. Like usual, she’d been drinking. Taemin wanted to go break all the cameras near here. He clutched his stomach and moved closer still. There was an older man who gave him an odd glance, but then looked back to his mother.
"My son is a victim." she was proclaiming, "my son.. my son does not need all of this hibblewobble.."
Taemin smiled. He had to smile. He felt insane, because he should be humiliated and mad, or.. whatever. But he wasn’t. His mom, right then, she was really his angel. His heart was rising again, listening to her slurred speech and made up words. The pain was gone. Yes, he could just pass out here..
He moved forward. He didn’t care about reporters. He didn’t know what else to do, his mom was right there, and he needed to hug her. "Mom!" he exclaimed, using his full voice as he pushed past a camera man.
Her eyes bulged at him just as he grabbed her in a one armed hug, his other hand clutching his box. She must have been surprised, of course. He smiled against her shoulder. She was so warm. "Mom.." he said again.
The crowd all started together, confused and curious. "Taemin?" "Taemin!"
"Wh-who are you?" she asked.
The warmth from her seemed to disappear. He was cold again, his heart frozen in his chest. The wind brushed over his tear stained face, aching him. So much pain. "Mom, I--"
"To the parking garage." she whispered lowly to him, even in her slurred voice. "We’ll meet."
Taemin backed away, confused for the moment.
"I’m not your mother!" she exclaimed, loud. "Where’s Taemin? Where is he?"
"I’m sorry." Taemin’s voice was soft. "Wrong.. mom."
What kind of plan was this? Taemin glanced back at the reporters. They were making their own judgments. Some of them locked their eyes onto him, like they saw straight through him, like they knew way more than anyone should about him. Others were dismissive, like suddenly this lady and Taemin both were just crazy people. He moved. It still hurt, but he moved. He didn’t know where the parking garage was, and he looked around wildly. "Wait, that’s Taemin." someone said certainly. That’s why Taemin kept moving. To the parking garage, where he and his mom could speak. He could hug her and take her warmth again. He could break down and cry about the pain, and the deaths, and the fact that he hated Onew who caused all of it and caused none of it at the same time.
He needed that. He ran. Soon, instead of the comfort of a hospital bed, Taemin was ducked down in the corner of a parking garage, his butt on the pavement, hidden from sight by a large jeep. He didn’t know how his mom would find him here. He just needed to be quiet and wait. Already, he was breaking. He felt his scrub shirt was wet, was bloody. He needed medical help, but like a crazy person, he was here in the parking garage.
He hated hospitals - they made him sick - so you’d think a garage might be an improvement. No, he had other memories in places like this. A girl’s neck snapping and being dragged away by some strange vampire, mostly. He needed his weapon. He opened his box. He ran his fingers over his closed switchblade. This blade had killed people. Vampires, but people all the same. Why was that so comforting to him? He smiled and lifted it up with both hands, holding it tight. Mom was coming soon...
He closed his burning eyes and laughed. "Mom.." he said it again and lost consciousness.
Chapter 2
He’s moving. Taemin opens his eyes, already aware that he’s in a car because he knows this sick feeling he gets when he’s in one. It seems like everything is attached to a bad memory. It’s not just any car, though. He’s in some kind of van, laying down in the back. He wondered for a moment if it was an ambulance. That couldn’t be. He was just at a hospital. He wasn’t cold any more. A thick coat was laying over top of him. But..
"Mom!" he tried to sit up in a hurry, but a sharp pain struck his abdomen and made him cry out.
"Hey! Keep ya ass down! Or ya tryin’ to hurt yourself?" The voice that yelled at him from up front was unfamiliar. It was deep, seriously deep, and the words were choppily spoken - an accent.
"Who are you?" Taemin asked, though he obeyed and carefully lowered himself back down to a lying position. Light from windows told him that it wasn’t night - so this couldn’t be a vampire. That was a plus. "Where’s my mom?"
"Ya mom is the one that called me. Had to leave her back at the hospital though. Sorry, kid." The loud voice lacked actual sympathy.
"No." Taemin whined, trying again to sit up. "Please, mom--" he stopped himself, crying out again and laying down once more.
"I said keep ya ass down! Ya gonna see ya damn mom again soon, damn!"
Taemin bent his head to an awkward angle, trying to check out what the driver looked like. It wasn’t hard, because the man was pretty big. He was also black, and when Taemin thought about it, he was pretty sure he’d have noticed if his mom had any black friends before now. "Who are you?" he asked again, suspicious. "Really?"
"Call me Aaron." came the answer. "I knew ya dad. Worked with ya dad."
Taemin’s dad had never been around much, which was odd, because Taemin heard fairly often that he was a lot like his dad. It all must have been genetic, but then, becoming a vampire probably wasn’t something planted in genes. It was destiny, Taemin thought, that he would turn out to be a hunter just like the father he barely knew.
"You’re a hunter?" Taemin asked with a voice full of hope.
"Was retired. As retired as a damn hunter can get, which innit very." Aaron glanced over his shoulder at Taemin, "I’m here to help ya. As much as ya need." He turned forward again, "Ya dad was a good man."
Taemin grinned in a fleeting expression. The grin was fast to transform into a grimace. Taemin clutched his stomach. "It hurts." the complaint came out in a breath. It was weird that Aaron chuckled at that, until he explained, "I heard ya were like ya dad."
"I know." Taemin whispered.
"Yeah? But ya dad.. he didn’t complain. Not about pain, heh."
Taemin frowned. He wasn’t insulted, exactly. Well, a little bit maybe, but Aaron didn’t make it feel like an insult. "Aaron.. Aaron.." Taemin said it out loud, testing the unique name.
"Yeah.. that‘s my name."
"Ey. Run." Taemin was sounding it out. "Just A is easier. A.."
"The hell kind of name is A?" Aaron sounded less than amused.
"The easy kind." Taemin replied, voice weakening. "I’m usually more creative, but... anyway.. you’re a good driver, A."
"Yeah, well ya don’t got a seatbelt, and I don’t need ya injured self rolling all over the back." Aaron chuckled after a moment, repeating, "A.."
"You do like it?" Taemin asked, full of hope.
"No, it’s stupid, alright." Aaron matter-of-factly responded. "I guess that’s what ya got from ya dad."
"Did dad call you A?"
"No. He was stupid."
Why was that funny.. ? Taemin probably laughed too hard. It was a long, weak laugh until it hurt too much to keep going. Laughter really wasn’t the best medicine, by the way. Taemin sighed, and then it was quiet. Maybe he shouldn’t be trusting the strange guy who just picked him up from a garage floor. Not that he had much choice. Even if he could get up, he wasn’t in any condition to jump out of a car.
"When will I see my mom?" Taemin asked.
"Before it’s night. In the mean time, we’ll get ya in a little less blood."
Well, that much sounded good to Taemin. Finally, he felt at ease. It wouldn’t be too long before he saw his mom anyway. A familiar face was really what he needed right now. He calmed down, moving his hands over his chest. "Mom.." he breathed.
Aaron didn’t really speak for the rest of the ride. Taemin listened to a dull buzzing in his ears and thought deeply about everything that happened. He felt almost bad for not being more emotional. It was really as if his emotions couldn’t keep up with everything, so they were just on shut down. He did feel like crying. He probably did cry a few more times on that ride, but he didn’t feel it like he thought he should. What he felt more than anything was an irritating nagging at himself, above everything else, words telling him he needed to let go of the building grudge against Onew.
He didn’t try to plan out his next moves. He was content to leave that to "A" and his mother, at least for now. He couldn’t do it, not yet. The past had to be dealt with before the future and all. Well, the past and his really painful wound..s. Taemin wondered what was wrong with him, beyond the splitting pain in his abdomen.
The ride, however long it was, wasn’t enough for his thoughts to be completely sorted. Aaron spoke again about the time they pulled up next to a fenced in house. "Hey. You survive?"
"Think so." Taemin responded in a light breath, with a soft smile.
He thought that being even carried in would be painful, but it wasn’t as bad as he imagined. Aaron wrapped him up in the coat and was careful as he moved beyond the fence and into the house. Taemin actually moaned when they made it through the door because the warmth felt so good that it was just about intoxicating. That was when Aaron formed him that the hospital had given him some heavy painkillers. Too bad it was giving him the loopy but not killing the pain.
Aaron didn’t bother taking his shoes off at the door, which may have been an American thing. He waited until he’d laid Taemin down on a very soft wonderful couch to kick off his huge boots. Taemin looked at the boots, almost fascinated. His eyes were dry though, so he had to keep interrupting his stare with blinks.
"Gonna live?" Aaron asked him. Taemin found comfort in his concerned expression, and it really was concerned. Aaron’s expressions were pretty over the top, as far as Taemin could see. It was kind of funny. Taemin might have laughed a little. "I’ll live." he said, sure of himself.
"Glad you think so." Aaron honestly said, but Taemin took it as a joke all the same.
He had busted stitches and Aaron was going to have to sew him up again, but well, Taemin expected that much. Aaron cut his shirt off so he wouldn’t have to move. When he started in with the needle, Taemin stared determinedly at the ceiling. He wouldn’t complain. He’d just have to keep his mind off of what was going on. "Why did my mom call you?"
"Don’t think ya mom has a lot of hunterish friends." Taemin thought that the word ‘hunterish’ was probably a mistake, but he didn’t correct Aaron, because he found it to be very cute. Besides, he wasn’t anyone to be correcting speech. "Ya got yoself in real trouble." Aaron went on to say.
"I’m on the news." Taemin announced.
"Yup." Aaron said shortly.
"Dad was never on the news, huh?"
"Nope."
"It’s bad that I’m on the news." Taemin cringed when Aaron’s large fingers hit a tender area none too gently.
"This whole thing is bad. Vampires are on the damn news. It’s big."
As important as this conversation may have been, Taemin lost focus. If he hadn’t already cried the tears all out, he’d probably cry again here. "I can’t do this."
".. bad condition.." is what Taemin heard Aaron say.
"Vampire blood will heal me." Taemin said in a daze.
"The fuck did you just say?" the man sounded angry, and his words were much better pronounced than usual.
"It’s true.." Taemin whispered.
Aaron went away. Taemin heard the heavy footsteps leave and then return. "Pick ya head up and drink this."
"What is it?" Taemin eyed the bottle that looked too much like the kind of stuff his mother filled up on.
"Vampire blood." Aaron said untruthfully, voice thick with annoyance, expression as animated as usual. Taemin smiled and opened his mouth. He trusted him. What the hell?
A swig of the stuff was hard to swallow. Taemin coughed and felt more of a daze. Another bottle came to Taemin’s lips and at first he flinched away from it, but then Aaron informed him it was water. He clutched it himself and drank it thirstily. He was half way through the bottle when Aaron took it away and started work again.
Not the alcohol or any of the painkillers Taemin received at the hospital were enough to keep the pain away. He hissed and cringed and could only do his best to hold still as Aaron finished sewing his gash up. The water he’d drank helped him to cry again.. which made him need more water. It took way too long, and by the time he passed out, he was thinking certainly never again.
Chapter 3
Taemin’s head ached when he opened his eyes this time. There was some soreness in the rest of his body, but he was feeling pretty much better, apart from that throbbing against his brain. It meant nothing though, when he saw his mother sitting in an arm chair by the couch he laid across. "Mom.." he called.
The TV was on, he realized, the volume low. She looked away from it to him, and he saw a drunken haze over her face. It was fine. It was familiar. Soon, she smiled at him anyway. "Taemin, my Taemin, you’re awake."
"You’re here, mom.." Taemin grinned. He didn’t try to get up this time. It would hurt too much, he’d learned better and his mom wasn’t going anywhere. He shifted a bit, propping his head up on the arm of the couch behind him, where he found there was a pillow for him. "I missed you."
"I missed you, my Taemin." his mom said, tearing up. She looked out of it, but she was looking at him, she was talking to him. Taemin’s heart fluttered. It had been so far too long since a moment like this. "I missed you." she said again, "I’m sorry." she added.
Those words echoed in Taemin’s head, a different voice. ‘I’m sorry. Forgive me. Forgive me.’ He shook those thoughts away. "I’m so happy, mom." Taemin told her. "So many horrible things... but you’re here.. for now, you’re here..."
His mother bunched her hands together, noticeably fidgeting. Emotion came through her hazy eyes when she said, "You’re going to leave me again."
Taemin frowned. He didn’t want to think about that now, about hunting, about his destiny... he just wanted to be with his mom. "Maybe.. not any time soon." he suggested.
His mom looked back to the TV, her eyes looking wet. "Caught up in all this." she said, a slur returning to her voice. "Even worse than your father.."
Taemin turned his head and looked at the TV. He tensed when he recognized the face on it, a vampire named Jiyong.. a vampire that brought back too many bad memories. He trembled just at the sight. "No." he whimpered, "Why him? No, why’s he there?"
"Started it all. With you, he started it with my baby."
Taemin tore his eyes from the screen and looked at his mother, who rocked nervously in her chair. She continued to speak, her voice horrifyingly tearful. "Everyone knows you. All of us and all of them. You’re going to leave me, else they’ll just take you away."
"You don’t know that." Taemin breathed, and now he forced himself to sit up, at least moreso. "Don’t say that, mom. Even if I hunt, I won’t leave you. I.. if we find a good hide out.."
"It’s the only choice." Instead of sad, now his mother’s voice was low, flat. "My baby, he’ll leave me, like my other baby left me."
Taemin could only stare in horror as his mom suddenly cried. She didn’t show this often to him, not that he could say he preferred when she drunkenly ignored him. She was weak then but he was in shock, really, to see her this much worse. What could he possibly say? After all, he knew it was true.
She toughened up before his shock wore away. She looked at him, determinedly, her lip quivering as she tried to force strength into her voice. "You train with Aaron. You listen to him, and be good. Be good at what you do. Promise me that."
Taemin nodded slow, trying to look as strong and determined as even she did, but failing completely.
"I love you mom."
He remembered very specifically that her only response then was tear filled eyes and a forced smile.
The next few days were for recovering. Having a conversation with his mom that wasn’t depressing was difficult, so he spent much more time conversing with Aaron, who very much agreed about the difficulty of conversation with Taemin’s mother. Aaron cursed a lot and spoke in short sentences, which Taemin learned was because it was the kind of Korean that his own father had taught Aaron. As it turned out, the two had been a close hunting pair for a long time. Here and there, Aaron would tell Taemin stories. Taemin would counter with his own stories, which he was almost happy to find were usually just as exciting, if a great deal more horrifying.
Taemin had just been surviving. His father, his father had been fighting. From now on, he’d learn to do that as well. Aaron talked about guns a lot. When he’d do that, Taemin would play with his switchblade, knowing that it was the only weapon he ever really wanted to use. Of course he needed to learn more than that and he would. When it came to that switchblade though, that just felt the most right. It was symbolic, he thought, of his destiny.
Story time was over as soon as recovery time was. Aaron picked up where Taemin’s last hunter group had left off. They discussed them a lot - the possibilities of trying to find them and how impossible it could be. Taemin tried not to think too deeply of what their fates might have been. If it was anything like Hongki... he would cringe those thoughts straight away.
He listened to Aaron when Aaron said to focus on becoming stronger, because "he wannit shit yet." (Taemin was pretty sure that meant he wasn’t good enough.) They sparred together more than anything, dealing with martial arts of different kinds. Aaron was better than Jay, Jungmo, or any of the others.
It thrilled Taemin to learn so much, if for no reason other than what it kept his mind off of. If Aaron would tire out on him (and he was quite a bit older, so it happened), Taemin would continue on for hours until he was forced to rest. He didn't like to pay attention to the news. What was happening in Korea bothered him far too much.
The world was learning about the existence of vampires. That was all well and good, because at least humans could better learn how to defend themselves. There was that, but at this time, it was chaotic. Unfortunately, the only thing humans were really learning was how to stay indoors at night. That, however, was causing more break-ins. Everything, to put it the most simply, was going to hell. His role, that human who'd been tortured on the internet, seemed to be forgotten at least. There were other victims to sympathize with.
It didn't matter to Taemin one way or another. He stayed indoors, in the safety of his mother's rental home, and he trained. Tried, to the best of his ability, to block everything out. For now, he just needed to get stronger. It was over a month before he felt ready again.
"I want to fight vampires again." he finally told Aaron. They sat on the back porch. Aaron was in a chair busy puffing at a cigarette, but Taemin was on the steps, trying to see stars that the nearby city made it too hard to see.
"About time." was Aaron's calm response.
"But isn't it amazing that for this long, we've been living peacefully?" Taemin leaned his head against railing of the porch.
"Vampires been busy." Aaron shortly explained, thick smoke rolling from his lips as he spoke. "Only a matter of time."
"I know." Taemin softly replied. "I'm going to miss my mom."
A moment of silence passed between them. Taemin used to be so talkative, really, that silence like this just about never occurred. He found that he actually liked silence, especially like this with Aaron. Before, he thought he had so many bad thoughts that silence would only give him time to create more. He didn't let his mind run away like that any more. Maybe it was as he was getting older that he was learning to control his thoughts.
Snow outdoors had melted away, but it was still cold. Taemin rubbed his ungloved hands together for friction before he spoke up. "I need to find.. my friends. The hunter ones, and also..." Taemin missed his best friend. Minho had been that familiar thing, who understood more than anyone what he was going through. He wasn't Minho any more though. Because of Onew... ".. and also." Taemin finished.
"Yeah, and also." Aaron sounded critical. "Ya thinkin' about the vampire again."
Taemin tried not to mention it but thoughts of Onew seemed to pester him more than anything. It was all between the blame game and feeling sorry himself. Sorry that he couldn't forgive Onew, when so much of what happened was out of Onew's control, or so he thought.
He wished he still had that same romanticized view of vampires that he once did. It would do him well to have his naive, blind faith restored. He'd question himself less.
Taemin thought in silence until he could think of something new to bring up. "I'm thinking about getting my hair done." he finally said, and smiled, proud of the much less dramatic topic. Unfortunately, Aaron didn't pick up on it, so the attempt went to waste. The older man gave a short and distracted sounding, "Good for you." Taemin wondered what Aaron was thinking, he did. He just couldn't bring himself to ask, so the two returned to silence that seemed to last the entire night.
The next morning was a much more noisy situation. Taemin noisily slurped up noodles in the tiny kitchen, announcing, "I'll be getting my hair done today!"
"We're going to the city today." Aaron very suddenly informed him.
"Huh?" Taemin frowned, "Oh.. that's sudden."
"Done here, huh?" Aaron asked.
"Yes, A." though Taemin was obviously sinking. "We're done here."
As depressed as Taemin's mother had stayed, it was strange that she didn't seem any worse when Taemin said they were leaving. She nodded her head, a frown set on her face. Taemin kissed her cheek and hugged her tight before lifting up a duffel bag and heading out ahead. He had to wait a bit before Aaron finally came, muttering, "No reasoning with that woman."
"That's my mom." Taemin proclaimed with a mock pride.
The two loaded into Aaron's van and headed for the city.
Chapter 4
When night fell on Seoul city, Taemin was still checking himself out in the mirror. His hair was cut, and red, but really that's not the change he was so interested in. It must have been the working out, or maybe just plain aging that seemed to make his face so different. Of course he'd been looking in the mirror before now, sure. He just hadn't really paid attention until he'd been in that barber's chair.
"Hey." Aaron finally scolded him. "Do ya wanna look for vampires or do ya wanna find yaself a vanity?"
Taemin promptly flipped his contact mirror closed, shoving it into the pocket of his tight pants, withdrawing his switchblade from his jacket's pocket in it's place. "Vampires it is." he smiled. "Wonder if they'll recognize me."
"Not the top of my concerns." Aaron said slowly, and Taemin followed his line of vision to a store with a broken window. Taemin frowned, uncomfortable. "The news mentioned that humans have been taking advantage of the vampire thing, right? Robbing places at night and blaming it on the undead. Shake my head."
"Look closer. There's blood." Aaron said seriously. Taemin stiffened, straining his eyes. He hadn't noticed before, but he saw it now, the red that was splattered all over the broken window sill. Whether human or vampire, it was an act of violence. He straightened up, "Think they're still around.. ? Whoever did this?"
"The one in charge here is you." Aaron told him, looking at him with an expression so sincere that Taemin almost found it funny. He didn't find much funny at all, though, about suddenly being in charge. "You have way more experience than me though, and.."
"Retired, or supposed to be. Not my time to shine. Ya wanna check this out or not, leader?"
If he was being honest, he felt inappropriately excited when he was called leader that way. With an excited grin, he hurriedly stepped forward. "What are you waiting for? Let's see."
Aaron was almost hesitant to follow, quietly mumbling "Why don't you get a little louder then?"
It was very evident to Taemin, the changes that had happened since he'd been momentarily out of touch. The city should have been louder at night. There should have been more cars out on the streets. This much, of course, should be expected when human kind finally finds out about vampires. The least someone can do is show a little caution while the sun is down. Well, not that Taemin had any room to talk. He wondered how many hunters would be born from this revelation. He wondered how many would die... Mostly, he knew that he needed a big part in it all.
He didn't have to walk far to find what he was looking for. Soon, the door to the store with the broken window swung open and three men were stepping out. Taemin paused immediately, making an ick sound as he turned back to Aaron. "There's three of them." he said nervously.
"If they're all even vampires." Aaron said pointedly.
The three of the men looked in their direction then. Taemin saw them smirking in that stereotypically evil way. He hurriedly turned back to Aaron. "They're gonna attack us."
"That's what we want, innit?"
Taemin flipped out his blade, turning towards them once again. He'd been right, the three were walking determinedly towards him. It was just then that Taemin thought he actually wasn't too into the idea of trying to kill vampires yet after all. His stomach lurched. His heart pounded. He thought of Hongki, Minho, then Siwon, then Jonghyun..
Jonghyun...
Taemin shook. He moved both hands onto the handle of his switchblade and held it out towards them. He scowled and they snickered. One asked, "What's the weapon for?" Another asked in English, "You from America? You lost?"
"Got a problem?" Aaron asked in his accented Korean. Taemin was very aware of the concerned look he was getting from the older man. Well, it didn't matter, because Aaron himself made him leader. He can't second guess himself...
"Not at all. Put that knife down and maybe we'll have some fun." spoke one of their sneering voices. It all felt surreal to Taemin. Like he'd woke up in some stereotypical dream world of gangster vampires. He was still shaking, and still scowling, when he dared them, "Make me."
"Do you know what we are?" The first one who spoke was talking again. He was distinct looking, with a large nose and a trail of piercings down his ear. Taemin turned his knife towards him, knowing that they would fight. If it was a human or a vampire, something was bad about him. It just so happened that he went on to say, "We know what you are. I can hear how fast your heart is beating."
"You don't know what I am." Taemin said softly. He had to speak in almost a whisper, or he was sure his voice would shake.
"Just a human." the apparent vampire said.
"Think again." Taemin said, eyes narrowed.
"Let's see about that." The vampire moved closer to Taemin, and Taemin stepped back. First of all, they needed to split up. He kept his eyes on the vampire who neared him, but was very much aware of Aaron withdrawing a gun from his coat. He heard those other vampires speaking to him, telling him he might as well drop it cause it wouldn't help him. He shot. It was loud. Taemin jumped, enough distracted for the vampire who neared him to get the jump on him.
He tried to take the switchblade from him, his strong cold fingers closing over Taemin's. "No!" Taemin screamed it, but the surge of rage that rushed through him was focused. This time, he wasn't wild, he didn't flail. He knew exactly what he was doing. Mind over matter, or something, and he let go of the blade with just one of his hands so he could ball it into a fist and bash the vampire right in his chin.
The vampire didn't fall back. Taemin expected as much. Vampires were strong. That's why he was already reeling back another punch. If that vampire wanted his blade, he'd have to try a lot harder than this. He hit the man in his nose this time, feeling too satisfied by the cracking sound caused by the impact. The vampire's fingers finally loosened from Taemin's blade, and Taemin shoved it forward. Just as the blade broke through the shirt of the vampire, the thing got a new grip on him, tightly grabbing and stopping his wrist.
"Let go of me." Taemin growled it. He flinched when he heard another bullet. He was focused though. Aaron would be fine.
"This is silver." the vampire growled back at him. The vampire squeezed, gripping so tightly that Taemin had to cry out. His fingers loosened, and he knew he'd drop the blade. As it began to fall, Taemin moved fast, swinging his leg in a hard kick against the vampire's thigh. The vampire sunk a bit, and Taemin used his free wrist to punch him again until he finally let go. Again, Taemin kicked, forcing a distance between himself and the vampire. Enough that he could bend down and grab his fallen weapon..
Another gun shot. Taemin whimpered at the sound this time. Then, he heard Aaron's voice. "Yep! They're vampires!" it shouted helpfully. Taemin chuckled lowly, for the moment distracted. It was enough that he didn't see it coming when the vampire he faced fast lunged at him, knocking him back onto the pavement of the sidewalk, the vampire right on top of him. It hurt, falling like that. Having just prepared enough as he fell, he saved his head from getting slammed against the ground. He tightly clutched his blade. As long as he had that, he could survive.
"You're a hunter, huh?" the vampire asked him, reaching first for his hand that held the blade. Taemin watched that hand move closely, and then with a swift movement, he stabbed through the vampire's hand with his blade. He grinned when the vampire cried out. Why? Why was it so funny?
The vampire sat up on top of Taemin, trying to pull his hand free of the blade. Taemin helped, jerking it backwards. The vampire was cursing at him, "You shit, you little shit, I'm gonna tear you apart."
Taemin's eyes went wide. The words just struck a nerve in him. Thought seemed to leave him and he just moved. As the vampire moved in towards him, trying to grab his blade with his bleeding hand, trying to lean towards his neck and have a bite, Taemin swung his switchblade again. He stabbed it into the vampire's shoulder first. When he heard him cry out, Taemin pulled it out and stabbed it again, this time into the vampire's upper back. He was almost unseeing. He just felt where the vampire was, and his body reacted to it. "Die!" he yelled, and stabbed into the back of the vampire's neck with his blade. "DIE!"
The so-called immortal then laid still on top of him. Taemin was so tightly holding the handle of his blade that his hand shook. He stared up at the vampire's face, a blank and unseeing expression. Taemin pulled the blade a bit to the side. He felt it touch the vampire's bone. He pulled it a bit more, slicing more skin open. Blood dripped from him and onto Taemin's shirt. That blood...
With one hand on the blade and one hand gently on the vampire's side, he pulled the fallen being upwards a bit so he had better access to the blood that dripped from him. It fell onto his lips. Taemin licked it. It was satisfying. The flavor of it is hard to describe, but it was very much the answer to a craving Taemin didn't know he had. It wasn't his first time drinking it. He remembered that first time, when it had saved his life. He was one of few surviving humans that knew what vampire blood did to humans, and he liked it. He licked his lips again as more blood dripped. His hand still on the blade that stuck into the vampire's neck, Taemin leaned up to gently lick and suck at the flowing dead blood. The more he tasted it, the more the flavor seemed almost bad, but for some reason he needed more. He vaguely wondered if that's what cigarettes were like. His body shivered then, and his eyelids fluttered as the energy flowing into him along with the blood seemed to form a very sudden high. Taemin sighed happily against split open skin.
"Hey! You alive over there?" he suddenly heard Aaron ask. Taemin jerked his blade out. Blood came more freely falling into his mouth and after he took a big gulp he giggled, then finally threw the vampire off of himself. "Coming~." he announced, pulling himself to his feet. He wiped some of the blood from his mouth with the back of his fist. He licked the rest.
When Taemin looked over at Aaron, he saw him scrapping with the two other vampires, gun apparently forgotten. Actually, he looked like he had it completely under control. He honestly seemed to be toying with them. Taemin laughed as he walked closer. "I don't guess you need help." he suspected out loud.
Aaron gave him a funny look, then pushed one mostly beaten vampire towards Taemin. "Have one."
Taemin used his left hand, the one that didn't hold onto his weapon, to punch the vampire so hard in the face that his neck cracked. He made it look easy. Aaron, still giving him a funny look, took out his gun and shot the vampire that had remained for himself in the neck. This time, Taemin didn't flinch at the sound. Taemin was too busy dropping down on the vampire he'd punched out, stabbing his blade into his neck with a quiet laugh.
"We need to get out of here." Aaron told Taemin. Taemin looked up at him, inattentively twisting his blade in the vampire's skin. "Oh. Because of people." he cleverly realized. Aaron nodded. Taemin got to his feet. "Well I'll follow you?
"Nuh-uh." Aaron said with a sigh. "Are ya the leader or not?"
"Oh." Taemin smiled. "In that case, let's go get a hotel." Taemin laughed somewhat, noting. "I'm bloody."
"Yes you are." Aaron said the words heavily, eyeing Taemin with one of his funny expressions, one eye seeming so much larger than the other. Taemin snickered at it and started walking. He moved closer to the buildings, closer to the sidewalk. Aaron followed close.
"What ya did was damn impossible." he told Taemin.
"Hm? Not with vampire blood." Taemin explained. "I drank it. But you can't tell anyone. Humans aren't supposed to know, and any that do will be at risk..."
".. Ya crazy ass is telling me that ya just drank that damn vampire's blood?"
"Yuh-huh. Now I'm strong." Taemin glanced over his shoulder at Aaron. "Like a vampire. It's kind of.. a weapon."
Aaron's face was some mix of disgusted and confused. "Uh-huh. Crazy ass."
It was kind of Aaron, after that, to just kind of let the topic slide. As much as Taemin honestly wanted to stay out, he was bloodtastic now, so the two did find a hotel (which Aaron checked into, and Taemin just walked to the room from the parking garage.) They'd need to find a more permanent place, but for now the two double beds in one room suited Taemin fine. It was still surprisingly easy to be quiet with Aaron. Even when he'd just told Aaron his big secret. Even when his mind was buzzing with hard, cold, depressing thoughts.
He fell asleep while imagining how Key would feel if Taemin ripped his own fangs into her neck.
Chapter 5
Months went by, the weather got warm. Taemin and Aaron had found their place in Seoul city, a shabby but mostly secluded apartment. Seclusion in the city wasn't easy, obviously, but this was at least a mostly inactive street - and no one else in the apartment building seemed to be vampires. Staying in hotels was nicer than the place, where Taemin slept on a futon on the floor, but they weren't made of money. In fact, money was something major to stress about. With his former hunting group, Jungmo and Jay did well with their music. They could easily make enough in tips to keep them going. In this case, they had to rely on Aaron's funds, as well as some of Taemin and his mother's. It wasn't legal for Aaron to get work in Korea anyway. Taemin was now a school drop out, and well in fact, he'd need to create a whole identity since he was technically wanted by Police. Once he'd wondered out loud about singing for money. When he showed Aaron an example of his singing, Aaron quickly shut his idea down.
There was always money that they could pull away from vampires they killed. If only they were lucky enough to kill much more of those..
The chaos of publicized vampires didn't seem to be dying down any. In this shit situation, Taemin worried a lot about the other hunters, his other friends. That's precisely why he originally began his blog.
Testing! Testing! Is this a secure connection?
Just kidding~ of course it is.
My name is Lee Taemin and I'm a vampire hunter.
I'm looking for my friends. Jay, and Jungmo, and Sungmin.
If you're reading this, hi! I'm okay! I miss you guys.
For you other people ^^ Hi!
How would you like to join the good fight?
Getting your blog to be popular was hard. As much as he searched online and tried to get the word out, nothing seemed to work. Not even the awesome crayon drawn doodles he did. Aaron called him an idiot, and asked, "What kinna dumbass would trust some blog like that?"
Taemin pouted at him and insisted that he keep trying.
Aaron kept more up to date with the news situation, looking for leads on vampire activity. A suspicious enough place opened up in one area of Seoul. It was an all-night sweet shop called "Good Night Sugar", located near the campus of Seoul University. "If anyone's dumb enough to go out at night lately, it's some damn college students."
"It's kind of a nice place though, don't you think?" Taemin asked, and asked it again when they walked up to it in person. It was nice. The building was painted pinkish, and the windows were lit up and contained displays of delicious looking a snacks. Taemin was eyeing some crescent moon-shaped cookies with great appreciation. There was a line though - a ridiculously long one that backed somewhat out of the small building.
"With all these people here, what can vampires do anyway?" Taemin questioned.
"Now since when is a busy place a safe place fa anybody?" Aaron questioned Taemin, giving him a look.
Taemin laughed awkwardly in response. "I'm just saying.." He really did wonder though. He looked around for suspicious activity, but if there was any, he was blind to it.
"What's our move?" Aaron asked him then, seeming a bit impatient himself. It was early tonight, so Taemin didn't blame him. He wanted some action too...
"Not standing in line." Taemin said, though he was disappointed by it himself. "Let's check around here. In the places where people might get dragged."
Aaron nodded his approval, then asked, "Split up?"
Taemin nodded back, "But be quiet this time. Since we're in a busy place."
The amused look on Aaron's face was a little condescending, not that he could be blamed. Taemin figured the only reason he was in charge was because Aaron was testing him, seeing how well he might do on his own. Taemin didn't think Aaron would stay with him for long. He was 'retired', after all. It made him want to find his former hunting friends that much more.
Taemin walked ahead first. The air was smelling good, like cakes and pies, which was more than a little distracting. Really, most of his meals lately were the instant or the disgusting kind. They had to deal with what they could afford. Cake would be so, so good...
He tried not to let the stomach get the best of him. Focus, he'd learned, was one of the most important traits for a hunter to have. He walked determinedly down the sidewalk, further from the bakery. In the darkened shadows, it would be all too easy for a vampire to drag some prey around. Maybe a guy would just look like he was helping his tired girlfriend, or-- "Uh!!! Chocolate chip!!" Taemin whined, gazing at a nearby bench where a small man sat, chewing on a chocolate chip cookie. Apparently, he heard Taemin, because he gave him an odd look and then looked very possessive of his cookie. He had a hard gangster type of face, so it was especially effective in making Taemin feel very small. He rubbed the back of his head, just a bit ashamed with himself. "Sorry.." he murmured.
"Hey. You're Lee Taemin."
Taemin flinched and turned hurriedly toward the voice. He was met with a large guy wearing glasses, someone vaguely familiar, who he of course stepped quickly back from. "Who are you?"
"I know who you are, but you don't know me?" The man raised a brow. "Well this is awkward."
Taemin looked closely at him, and asked in a soft voice, "Are you from The Council?"
"Yeah, you can call me Taec." He grinned big teeth at Taemin. "Love the blog."
That suddenly mattered much more than the fact that Taec was an imminent threat. Taemin straightened up and smiled brightly, "You read it? I didn't think anyone read it."
It was the first time that Taemin noticed Taec had a bag from the sweets shop. The vampire lifted a really delicious looking pastry to his mouth and bit into it, looking amused as he chewed, and finally answering after he swallowed. "You think The Council doesn't keep some kinda tabs on you when you make it that easy?"
Taemin nodded and calmed, more serious now. "You're the first vampire I've recognized from The Council."
"You might have noticed we're busy taking over the world." The vampire grinned between bites of his pastry.
"I didn't really." Taemin responded with a smirk. "I've been busy kicking vampire ass."
Taec laughed. Taemin noticed then that he was looking towards that bench. Taemin turned the slightest shade of pink when he turned to see the chocolate chip cookie guy watching them with an expression of vague interest. This, this is why vampires can't do anything in public.
Well, unless they're Taec apparently. The large vampire moved forward while Taemin was distractedly looking to cookie guy. Taemin took a punch to the face that had him falling on his ass. When he tried to bounce right back up from the ground, Taec stepped on his chest and pinned him. He still held his "Good Night Sugar" bag under one arm.
Taemin grunted and grabbed onto Taec's foot, trying to push it off of his chest. The foot remained still, no, it pushed down harder on Taemin, crushing him against the sidewalk. Taemin whined in pain, reaching a hand into his pocket, feeling for his weapon..
"I don't mind making an example out of you right here." Taec said decidedly, and dropped his bag onto the ground nearby in such a way that it impressively didn't topple over. Taemin was finding it hard to breath with the crushing feeling on his chest. At this rate, his bones could snap..
"Hey."
Taec and Taemin both looked over. The cookie guy stood next to them now, cookieless. He was glaring at a much taller Taec. "Move along." he demanded.
"What are you gonna do about it, T--" before Taec could finish this thought, the smaller vampire shoved him by his chest away from Taemin. Taemin took a deep breath, putting a hand over his bruised feeling chest as he sat up. His other hand finally clutched his blade, and he withdrew it. However, by the time he was on his feet, the scuffle between vampires was over. Taec was stepping back and shooting the short man a hateful look.
"I don't have time for you two." Taec announced, and grabbed up the bag he'd left on the ground. Pulling another pastry from the bag, he started walking off.
"Wait." Taemin started after him, but then stopped himself, turning instead to the cookie guy that had defended him. "No, I mean. Hi. Thanks. Who are you?"
The small man glared a little, and said, "I'm leaving." That simply, he started walking away.
"But. Wait. Do you know what that was? Who that was?" Taemin hurriedly walked after him. "It was a vampire."
"I know who it was." the man shortly explained.
"Well, then, who are you?"
"I'm leaving." he said again.
"Don't leave!" Taemin hurried, rushing to step in front of the man. "Why did you save me? I don't understand. Please, just.."
The man grabbed onto Taemin's arms then, dragging him with a growl between two buildings. Taemin, though bewildered, reflexively swung his arms to knock the man's away. He hurriedly stepped back, blinking at him. "I.."
"I'm a vampire!" the man told him.
"You're a vampire and you saved me?" Taemin's eyes grew wide with admiration.
"If people make a scene around there, the shop is going to get shut down." The vampire informed Taemin in an annoyed, matter-of-fact tone. "That's why I saved you. So either run away or get eaten now."
"You saved me to save the shop?" Taemin scratched his head.
"Why else?"
"Awfully nice of you to protect the shop, is all.."
"The cookies are good." Frowning, the man then turned to walk away.
Taemin hurried up behind him, grinning even more brightly as he grabbed onto his shoulders. "You saved me to save cookies?"
The man turned around, and though he was much smaller, he knocked Taemin's hands away like they were nothing, then roughly shoved the human against a wall. He looked not angry, but annoyed up at Taemin's face, and spoke warningly. "I WILL eat you."
"Same." Taemin said lightly. While the vampire was busy trying to figure out just what that meant, Taemin unflipped his switchblade and slashed it at the shorter man, who hurriedly stepped back, officially angry when he looked down to see a deep slash across his abdomen.
"Sorry." Taemin told him, biting his lip as he gazed at blood gushing out of the vampire. "It's just that.." he trailed off when the man fell backwards, unconscious.
".. I'll tell you later." Taemin softly finished.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A dreamless sleep faded away and Taemin heard the unpleasant sound of a sobbing male voice. The pleading words repeated in a quiet, shaking chant. "Forgive me, forgive me." The deep tone to the voice was familiar, but it was unrecognizable that way, between sobs and wet heavy breaths.
There was something so deeply somber about the sound that listening caused a pain in Taemin’s chest. He opened his eyes to a blur of light. His sight needed a moment to adjust before he could figure out that the light came from a nearby doorway. It was just a few feet away, beyond white metal bars attached to the bed that he laid in. He could recognize it as a hospital bed, because his previous memories of hospitals stayed with him well. For a moment, that was all he knew. He was in a hospital bed and someone was crying.
Memories of what happened before he fell into his dreamless sleep returned slowly. That pain in his chest spread as he reflected on the horrible moments that led up to his current state. As the memory became clearer, it seemed his sight did as well. It was still dark and a tired fog was still hindering his vision, but he could recognize a figure sitting in a chair by the door now.
Onew’s head was in his hands as he cried for forgiveness. His voice still sounded almost like it belonged to someone else. At least Taemin thought so, sure that he’d never heard the vampire cry before. "Forgive me", Onew was asking.
Taemin opened his mouth. He wanted to forgive him.
He just couldn’t.
Switchblade
Chapter 1
The next time that Taemin opened his eyes, the room was filled with light. Strangely, all of that light didn’t seem as bright as the light from the night before. The room he was in was ordinary. Nothing set it apart from other hospital rooms that Taemin had found himself in before. It made him feel a little sick just being there. Hospitals suck. He would need to call a nurse and all of that, go through some weird check out process, never be able to pay the bills...
He spent too long thinking of insignificant problems like that one. That was just more simple than thinking of what was really going on. Even when he did get out of the hospital, he was going to have to search hard to find his path again. He had no idea where his mom was, no idea where the other hunters were, and as far as his best friend went...
"Onew." Taemin suddenly said out loud, and he tried to sit up and turn toward the chair that the vampire sat in the night before. It hurt. His stomach hurt so bad. He laid back down fast and looked down to discover the source of that pain. He could feel bandages around his abdomen now that he paid attention, although they must have been beneath the hospital gown that he wore. He had been stabbed. Onew saved him. That was the last thing he remembered before...
Onew's crying, begging form was so vivid in his mind but so surreal that thinking back on it made it feel more like a dream. Taemin looked back to the chair that Onew had sat in. There was a box there now, although he wasn't exactly in any condition to get up and grab it. He looked around and eventually found a button to press for a nurse. He pressed it once with a frown. How long would he be stuck here recovering? What if the vampires found him before he could get out?
"The bad kind of vampires." Taemin quickly added to his inner thoughts. It was an unpopular belief, but he was determined to believe that there were some good vampires out there. Even if that belief did originally come because of Onew. Even if just last night, he found Onew impossible to forgive.. but that had been wrong. What had Onew really done? Wasn’t he a victim too? Didn’t he deserve forgiveness?
"Vampires can be good." Taemin thought that resolutely.
After a while, a nurse finally came in. A male in light green scrubs with a big name tag that identified him as hospital personnel. "Lee Taemin. Finally woke up?" he asked. Taemin cringed. He didn't like how his full name sounded any more. He'd heard it used by the wrong people too many times.
"My friend left that for me, I think." Taemin said now, nodding towards the box in the chair.
"Your friend.." the nurse mumbled, looking back to the box. "Should I bring it to you?"
"Yes, please."
The nurse picked it up, carrying it to the hospital bed. "I'm Doojoon." he said. Taemin already knew. It was on his gigantic name tag. Taemin just took the box, staring at it without opening it. He didn't need to respond to Doojoon. Doojoon already knew his name.
The nurse must have felt uncomfortable with the silence, cause he cleared his throat awkwardly. "The police are going to want to speak with you." He took a breath, "And maybe you should watch the news, you're.. well, you're on it. There's a lot of press that wants to speak with you too."
Taemin just stared at the box, unable to feel too surprised by any of this news. He didn't know what he'd say though - not to the police, not to the media. Even now, he felt like he had nothing to say to the nurse. Nothing to say.. he just needed to leave, and fast, and.. without speaking. Could he fake being mute? He was so deep in thought that he didn't hear Doojoon's explanations of his wounds. Despite this, when Doojoon questioned him, he nodded his head like he understood. Finally, the nurse left.
So Taemin opened the box, easily lifting it's lid and setting it to the side.
A post-it on top of the rest said "Leave." Taemin stuck it to the side of the box and couldn't help but smile finally. His silver switchblade, passed down to him from his grandfather, laid on top of a pile of scrubs. Beneath those, shoes, and even underwear. This wouldn't be the first time Taemin disguised himself with scrubs. It hurt his heart to think of that first time, along with Onew, the vampire that caused all of this...
He would find forgiveness for him. Onew did deserve that much, Taemin decided. For now, whatever the case, Taemin needed to trust the vampire because he had nothing else to go off of. He couldn't easily stay here anyway, stuck to answer questions he barely knew the answer to. He tried sitting up again and it hurt so much. He grunted loud and bit his lip, looking to the door with his tearing eyes to check that no one was coming. He had to do this quick and quiet.
He tried again, keeping his teeth digging into his bottom lip as he only half sat up this time, and maneuvered his legs over the barred hospital bed. He couldn't help the whining he did against his lips and only kept it as quiet as he could. In fact, by the time he was standing, his eyes were streaming tears. He stood as straight as he could, dealing with the pain because he had to. He’d probably busted some stitches with that. He continued to whimper as he changed clothes, cringing with his every painful move.
The hardest was the underwear and the pants. He had to lean against the wall to pull them on, and he thought he might pass out from the pain. He worried that soon he was going to be bleeding through those bandages wrapped around his torso.
Fast. He just needed to do this fast. Finally, he dropped the shoes on the floor and stuck his feet in. His heels remained on the back of them, but he was in too much of a hurry to fit them on any better than that. He closed the box, his switchblade remaining in it, and he practiced walking shortly. He knew he must be doing it funny. One foot kept getting ahead of the other, and well, he knew his face was a constant grimace.
There wasn’t really any choice to make about this. He just had to move. Grimacing and looking funny or not, Taemin fast walked out of the room. That was the key. Fast, quiet, keeping his head down. There would be no problems like this. "Just go, just go, just go." he whispered to himself. The problem quickly became that he didn’t know his way around the place, and keeping your head down isn’t exactly helpful when it comes to reading hospital signs.
He kept glancing up, and when he did, he’d take the moment to wipe tears off his face. Every step was pain. Maybe he was killing himself like this. At times, when his vision blurred, he wondered if he’d see black soon. Die, just like Hongki and Minseok. "Faster. Just go, just go, just go." His voice broke, and he was eventually speaking louder, wanting to cry as he hurriedly moved through the halls without being sure of his direction. "Please, please, please, please.."
"Hey.." a woman’s voice called. They weren’t talking to him. Keep moving. "Hey!" it said again. It was too close. Taemin walked faster, but a hand caught his shoulder and he froze. "Are you okay?"
Taemin looked over his shoulder at the woman. She was a nurse, no one he knew, but her eyes rounded at the sight of him. "Lee Taemin?" she questioned and he flinched. There was his name again. There was nothing else he could do now. Weak and in pain, tears pouring, Taemin ran forward with all his strength. He heard her call after him. He heard her scream for help. Why’d she have to do that? He was escaping for a reason!
He wouldn’t outrun anyone who came after him, not in this condition, and he knew it. He should hide, he thought, but when he looked around he saw nowhere safe to do it. Besides, she had sight of him. His heart pounded. It was adrenaline that kept him moving. Oh, why didn’t Onew take him out of here last night? Even if no one would catch him, he’d pass out before he made it to the door.
Then, there it was. A brightly lit exit sign. It just happened to be across the lobby. There was a whole group of really serious looking people. Taemin could see the badges. It was a hospital, so they could be here for anyone, but he didn‘t want to be seen. Not now. He slowed down. He lifted his hand to his face in a pretty obvious gesture, but what more did he have? He realized he was shaking, though, because his teeth were chattering as he tried to keep them together to stop the sounds.
After all he’d been through.. who would want to talk to police now? Who would want to talk to anyone, in his position? Taemin hadn’t even been able to speak to Onew. He couldn’t even say, "I forgive you"...
He noticed odd looks. The odd looks soon became suspicious looks. "Keep going, just go.." He heard someone call out, maybe to him, maybe not - just as he reached the door. He shoved it open and the bright, real light of day made him squint. Taemin wasn’t really used to being out in the sunlight any more. This light was particularly blinding because of how it shined against the piles of snow around on the ground. It was freezing. Taemin almost appreciated that. It was numbing.
There was a crowd of reporters making it hard for people to get in and out. Some fights were going on just because of that. He was on TV, right? Taemin didn’t want to see. He didn’t need to be involved with the media. He needed to leave, to find anyone. He wanted to think Onew would be near. "Onew, if you find me tonight, I will forgive you, I promise.." he mumbled it out loud as he walked, keeping his head down again, but looking awfully suspicious in the freezing weather, wearing only scrubs, shaking in pain or because of the cold or whatever.
He made eye contact with someone who called out to him, "Doctor! Can I have a word?"
Taemin turned in another direction, looking for the emptiest space to walk in. He wouldn’t blend in with a crowd even if he tried. "Please, please." he kept mumbling. "I hate this, I hate this so much."
Where could he go? Why didn’t he even think of that when he was hurting himself getting these clothes on? Why couldn’t Onew have left him real clothes?
Lost, in pain, empty, Taemin thought about death and wondered if it was time to invite it yet. Then he saw an angel. Not an angel, his mother. She stood over in a crowd. She was talking to reporters, but he didn’t care. He wandered towards her and called her softly, "Mom..."
His mom was supposed to be hiding. Why was she out here talking to reporters? Especially when he’d been inside, by himself...
When he got closer, his heart sunk. He heard that familiar slur in his mother’s voice. Like usual, she’d been drinking. Taemin wanted to go break all the cameras near here. He clutched his stomach and moved closer still. There was an older man who gave him an odd glance, but then looked back to his mother.
"My son is a victim." she was proclaiming, "my son.. my son does not need all of this hibblewobble.."
Taemin smiled. He had to smile. He felt insane, because he should be humiliated and mad, or.. whatever. But he wasn’t. His mom, right then, she was really his angel. His heart was rising again, listening to her slurred speech and made up words. The pain was gone. Yes, he could just pass out here..
He moved forward. He didn’t care about reporters. He didn’t know what else to do, his mom was right there, and he needed to hug her. "Mom!" he exclaimed, using his full voice as he pushed past a camera man.
Her eyes bulged at him just as he grabbed her in a one armed hug, his other hand clutching his box. She must have been surprised, of course. He smiled against her shoulder. She was so warm. "Mom.." he said again.
The crowd all started together, confused and curious. "Taemin?" "Taemin!"
"Wh-who are you?" she asked.
The warmth from her seemed to disappear. He was cold again, his heart frozen in his chest. The wind brushed over his tear stained face, aching him. So much pain. "Mom, I--"
"To the parking garage." she whispered lowly to him, even in her slurred voice. "We’ll meet."
Taemin backed away, confused for the moment.
"I’m not your mother!" she exclaimed, loud. "Where’s Taemin? Where is he?"
"I’m sorry." Taemin’s voice was soft. "Wrong.. mom."
What kind of plan was this? Taemin glanced back at the reporters. They were making their own judgments. Some of them locked their eyes onto him, like they saw straight through him, like they knew way more than anyone should about him. Others were dismissive, like suddenly this lady and Taemin both were just crazy people. He moved. It still hurt, but he moved. He didn’t know where the parking garage was, and he looked around wildly. "Wait, that’s Taemin." someone said certainly. That’s why Taemin kept moving. To the parking garage, where he and his mom could speak. He could hug her and take her warmth again. He could break down and cry about the pain, and the deaths, and the fact that he hated Onew who caused all of it and caused none of it at the same time.
He needed that. He ran. Soon, instead of the comfort of a hospital bed, Taemin was ducked down in the corner of a parking garage, his butt on the pavement, hidden from sight by a large jeep. He didn’t know how his mom would find him here. He just needed to be quiet and wait. Already, he was breaking. He felt his scrub shirt was wet, was bloody. He needed medical help, but like a crazy person, he was here in the parking garage.
He hated hospitals - they made him sick - so you’d think a garage might be an improvement. No, he had other memories in places like this. A girl’s neck snapping and being dragged away by some strange vampire, mostly. He needed his weapon. He opened his box. He ran his fingers over his closed switchblade. This blade had killed people. Vampires, but people all the same. Why was that so comforting to him? He smiled and lifted it up with both hands, holding it tight. Mom was coming soon...
He closed his burning eyes and laughed. "Mom.." he said it again and lost consciousness.
Chapter 2
He’s moving. Taemin opens his eyes, already aware that he’s in a car because he knows this sick feeling he gets when he’s in one. It seems like everything is attached to a bad memory. It’s not just any car, though. He’s in some kind of van, laying down in the back. He wondered for a moment if it was an ambulance. That couldn’t be. He was just at a hospital. He wasn’t cold any more. A thick coat was laying over top of him. But..
"Mom!" he tried to sit up in a hurry, but a sharp pain struck his abdomen and made him cry out.
"Hey! Keep ya ass down! Or ya tryin’ to hurt yourself?" The voice that yelled at him from up front was unfamiliar. It was deep, seriously deep, and the words were choppily spoken - an accent.
"Who are you?" Taemin asked, though he obeyed and carefully lowered himself back down to a lying position. Light from windows told him that it wasn’t night - so this couldn’t be a vampire. That was a plus. "Where’s my mom?"
"Ya mom is the one that called me. Had to leave her back at the hospital though. Sorry, kid." The loud voice lacked actual sympathy.
"No." Taemin whined, trying again to sit up. "Please, mom--" he stopped himself, crying out again and laying down once more.
"I said keep ya ass down! Ya gonna see ya damn mom again soon, damn!"
Taemin bent his head to an awkward angle, trying to check out what the driver looked like. It wasn’t hard, because the man was pretty big. He was also black, and when Taemin thought about it, he was pretty sure he’d have noticed if his mom had any black friends before now. "Who are you?" he asked again, suspicious. "Really?"
"Call me Aaron." came the answer. "I knew ya dad. Worked with ya dad."
Taemin’s dad had never been around much, which was odd, because Taemin heard fairly often that he was a lot like his dad. It all must have been genetic, but then, becoming a vampire probably wasn’t something planted in genes. It was destiny, Taemin thought, that he would turn out to be a hunter just like the father he barely knew.
"You’re a hunter?" Taemin asked with a voice full of hope.
"Was retired. As retired as a damn hunter can get, which innit very." Aaron glanced over his shoulder at Taemin, "I’m here to help ya. As much as ya need." He turned forward again, "Ya dad was a good man."
Taemin grinned in a fleeting expression. The grin was fast to transform into a grimace. Taemin clutched his stomach. "It hurts." the complaint came out in a breath. It was weird that Aaron chuckled at that, until he explained, "I heard ya were like ya dad."
"I know." Taemin whispered.
"Yeah? But ya dad.. he didn’t complain. Not about pain, heh."
Taemin frowned. He wasn’t insulted, exactly. Well, a little bit maybe, but Aaron didn’t make it feel like an insult. "Aaron.. Aaron.." Taemin said it out loud, testing the unique name.
"Yeah.. that‘s my name."
"Ey. Run." Taemin was sounding it out. "Just A is easier. A.."
"The hell kind of name is A?" Aaron sounded less than amused.
"The easy kind." Taemin replied, voice weakening. "I’m usually more creative, but... anyway.. you’re a good driver, A."
"Yeah, well ya don’t got a seatbelt, and I don’t need ya injured self rolling all over the back." Aaron chuckled after a moment, repeating, "A.."
"You do like it?" Taemin asked, full of hope.
"No, it’s stupid, alright." Aaron matter-of-factly responded. "I guess that’s what ya got from ya dad."
"Did dad call you A?"
"No. He was stupid."
Why was that funny.. ? Taemin probably laughed too hard. It was a long, weak laugh until it hurt too much to keep going. Laughter really wasn’t the best medicine, by the way. Taemin sighed, and then it was quiet. Maybe he shouldn’t be trusting the strange guy who just picked him up from a garage floor. Not that he had much choice. Even if he could get up, he wasn’t in any condition to jump out of a car.
"When will I see my mom?" Taemin asked.
"Before it’s night. In the mean time, we’ll get ya in a little less blood."
Well, that much sounded good to Taemin. Finally, he felt at ease. It wouldn’t be too long before he saw his mom anyway. A familiar face was really what he needed right now. He calmed down, moving his hands over his chest. "Mom.." he breathed.
Aaron didn’t really speak for the rest of the ride. Taemin listened to a dull buzzing in his ears and thought deeply about everything that happened. He felt almost bad for not being more emotional. It was really as if his emotions couldn’t keep up with everything, so they were just on shut down. He did feel like crying. He probably did cry a few more times on that ride, but he didn’t feel it like he thought he should. What he felt more than anything was an irritating nagging at himself, above everything else, words telling him he needed to let go of the building grudge against Onew.
He didn’t try to plan out his next moves. He was content to leave that to "A" and his mother, at least for now. He couldn’t do it, not yet. The past had to be dealt with before the future and all. Well, the past and his really painful wound..s. Taemin wondered what was wrong with him, beyond the splitting pain in his abdomen.
The ride, however long it was, wasn’t enough for his thoughts to be completely sorted. Aaron spoke again about the time they pulled up next to a fenced in house. "Hey. You survive?"
"Think so." Taemin responded in a light breath, with a soft smile.
He thought that being even carried in would be painful, but it wasn’t as bad as he imagined. Aaron wrapped him up in the coat and was careful as he moved beyond the fence and into the house. Taemin actually moaned when they made it through the door because the warmth felt so good that it was just about intoxicating. That was when Aaron formed him that the hospital had given him some heavy painkillers. Too bad it was giving him the loopy but not killing the pain.
Aaron didn’t bother taking his shoes off at the door, which may have been an American thing. He waited until he’d laid Taemin down on a very soft wonderful couch to kick off his huge boots. Taemin looked at the boots, almost fascinated. His eyes were dry though, so he had to keep interrupting his stare with blinks.
"Gonna live?" Aaron asked him. Taemin found comfort in his concerned expression, and it really was concerned. Aaron’s expressions were pretty over the top, as far as Taemin could see. It was kind of funny. Taemin might have laughed a little. "I’ll live." he said, sure of himself.
"Glad you think so." Aaron honestly said, but Taemin took it as a joke all the same.
He had busted stitches and Aaron was going to have to sew him up again, but well, Taemin expected that much. Aaron cut his shirt off so he wouldn’t have to move. When he started in with the needle, Taemin stared determinedly at the ceiling. He wouldn’t complain. He’d just have to keep his mind off of what was going on. "Why did my mom call you?"
"Don’t think ya mom has a lot of hunterish friends." Taemin thought that the word ‘hunterish’ was probably a mistake, but he didn’t correct Aaron, because he found it to be very cute. Besides, he wasn’t anyone to be correcting speech. "Ya got yoself in real trouble." Aaron went on to say.
"I’m on the news." Taemin announced.
"Yup." Aaron said shortly.
"Dad was never on the news, huh?"
"Nope."
"It’s bad that I’m on the news." Taemin cringed when Aaron’s large fingers hit a tender area none too gently.
"This whole thing is bad. Vampires are on the damn news. It’s big."
As important as this conversation may have been, Taemin lost focus. If he hadn’t already cried the tears all out, he’d probably cry again here. "I can’t do this."
".. bad condition.." is what Taemin heard Aaron say.
"Vampire blood will heal me." Taemin said in a daze.
"The fuck did you just say?" the man sounded angry, and his words were much better pronounced than usual.
"It’s true.." Taemin whispered.
Aaron went away. Taemin heard the heavy footsteps leave and then return. "Pick ya head up and drink this."
"What is it?" Taemin eyed the bottle that looked too much like the kind of stuff his mother filled up on.
"Vampire blood." Aaron said untruthfully, voice thick with annoyance, expression as animated as usual. Taemin smiled and opened his mouth. He trusted him. What the hell?
A swig of the stuff was hard to swallow. Taemin coughed and felt more of a daze. Another bottle came to Taemin’s lips and at first he flinched away from it, but then Aaron informed him it was water. He clutched it himself and drank it thirstily. He was half way through the bottle when Aaron took it away and started work again.
Not the alcohol or any of the painkillers Taemin received at the hospital were enough to keep the pain away. He hissed and cringed and could only do his best to hold still as Aaron finished sewing his gash up. The water he’d drank helped him to cry again.. which made him need more water. It took way too long, and by the time he passed out, he was thinking certainly never again.
Chapter 3
Taemin’s head ached when he opened his eyes this time. There was some soreness in the rest of his body, but he was feeling pretty much better, apart from that throbbing against his brain. It meant nothing though, when he saw his mother sitting in an arm chair by the couch he laid across. "Mom.." he called.
The TV was on, he realized, the volume low. She looked away from it to him, and he saw a drunken haze over her face. It was fine. It was familiar. Soon, she smiled at him anyway. "Taemin, my Taemin, you’re awake."
"You’re here, mom.." Taemin grinned. He didn’t try to get up this time. It would hurt too much, he’d learned better and his mom wasn’t going anywhere. He shifted a bit, propping his head up on the arm of the couch behind him, where he found there was a pillow for him. "I missed you."
"I missed you, my Taemin." his mom said, tearing up. She looked out of it, but she was looking at him, she was talking to him. Taemin’s heart fluttered. It had been so far too long since a moment like this. "I missed you." she said again, "I’m sorry." she added.
Those words echoed in Taemin’s head, a different voice. ‘I’m sorry. Forgive me. Forgive me.’ He shook those thoughts away. "I’m so happy, mom." Taemin told her. "So many horrible things... but you’re here.. for now, you’re here..."
His mother bunched her hands together, noticeably fidgeting. Emotion came through her hazy eyes when she said, "You’re going to leave me again."
Taemin frowned. He didn’t want to think about that now, about hunting, about his destiny... he just wanted to be with his mom. "Maybe.. not any time soon." he suggested.
His mom looked back to the TV, her eyes looking wet. "Caught up in all this." she said, a slur returning to her voice. "Even worse than your father.."
Taemin turned his head and looked at the TV. He tensed when he recognized the face on it, a vampire named Jiyong.. a vampire that brought back too many bad memories. He trembled just at the sight. "No." he whimpered, "Why him? No, why’s he there?"
"Started it all. With you, he started it with my baby."
Taemin tore his eyes from the screen and looked at his mother, who rocked nervously in her chair. She continued to speak, her voice horrifyingly tearful. "Everyone knows you. All of us and all of them. You’re going to leave me, else they’ll just take you away."
"You don’t know that." Taemin breathed, and now he forced himself to sit up, at least moreso. "Don’t say that, mom. Even if I hunt, I won’t leave you. I.. if we find a good hide out.."
"It’s the only choice." Instead of sad, now his mother’s voice was low, flat. "My baby, he’ll leave me, like my other baby left me."
Taemin could only stare in horror as his mom suddenly cried. She didn’t show this often to him, not that he could say he preferred when she drunkenly ignored him. She was weak then but he was in shock, really, to see her this much worse. What could he possibly say? After all, he knew it was true.
She toughened up before his shock wore away. She looked at him, determinedly, her lip quivering as she tried to force strength into her voice. "You train with Aaron. You listen to him, and be good. Be good at what you do. Promise me that."
Taemin nodded slow, trying to look as strong and determined as even she did, but failing completely.
"I love you mom."
He remembered very specifically that her only response then was tear filled eyes and a forced smile.
The next few days were for recovering. Having a conversation with his mom that wasn’t depressing was difficult, so he spent much more time conversing with Aaron, who very much agreed about the difficulty of conversation with Taemin’s mother. Aaron cursed a lot and spoke in short sentences, which Taemin learned was because it was the kind of Korean that his own father had taught Aaron. As it turned out, the two had been a close hunting pair for a long time. Here and there, Aaron would tell Taemin stories. Taemin would counter with his own stories, which he was almost happy to find were usually just as exciting, if a great deal more horrifying.
Taemin had just been surviving. His father, his father had been fighting. From now on, he’d learn to do that as well. Aaron talked about guns a lot. When he’d do that, Taemin would play with his switchblade, knowing that it was the only weapon he ever really wanted to use. Of course he needed to learn more than that and he would. When it came to that switchblade though, that just felt the most right. It was symbolic, he thought, of his destiny.
Story time was over as soon as recovery time was. Aaron picked up where Taemin’s last hunter group had left off. They discussed them a lot - the possibilities of trying to find them and how impossible it could be. Taemin tried not to think too deeply of what their fates might have been. If it was anything like Hongki... he would cringe those thoughts straight away.
He listened to Aaron when Aaron said to focus on becoming stronger, because "he wannit shit yet." (Taemin was pretty sure that meant he wasn’t good enough.) They sparred together more than anything, dealing with martial arts of different kinds. Aaron was better than Jay, Jungmo, or any of the others.
It thrilled Taemin to learn so much, if for no reason other than what it kept his mind off of. If Aaron would tire out on him (and he was quite a bit older, so it happened), Taemin would continue on for hours until he was forced to rest. He didn't like to pay attention to the news. What was happening in Korea bothered him far too much.
The world was learning about the existence of vampires. That was all well and good, because at least humans could better learn how to defend themselves. There was that, but at this time, it was chaotic. Unfortunately, the only thing humans were really learning was how to stay indoors at night. That, however, was causing more break-ins. Everything, to put it the most simply, was going to hell. His role, that human who'd been tortured on the internet, seemed to be forgotten at least. There were other victims to sympathize with.
It didn't matter to Taemin one way or another. He stayed indoors, in the safety of his mother's rental home, and he trained. Tried, to the best of his ability, to block everything out. For now, he just needed to get stronger. It was over a month before he felt ready again.
"I want to fight vampires again." he finally told Aaron. They sat on the back porch. Aaron was in a chair busy puffing at a cigarette, but Taemin was on the steps, trying to see stars that the nearby city made it too hard to see.
"About time." was Aaron's calm response.
"But isn't it amazing that for this long, we've been living peacefully?" Taemin leaned his head against railing of the porch.
"Vampires been busy." Aaron shortly explained, thick smoke rolling from his lips as he spoke. "Only a matter of time."
"I know." Taemin softly replied. "I'm going to miss my mom."
A moment of silence passed between them. Taemin used to be so talkative, really, that silence like this just about never occurred. He found that he actually liked silence, especially like this with Aaron. Before, he thought he had so many bad thoughts that silence would only give him time to create more. He didn't let his mind run away like that any more. Maybe it was as he was getting older that he was learning to control his thoughts.
Snow outdoors had melted away, but it was still cold. Taemin rubbed his ungloved hands together for friction before he spoke up. "I need to find.. my friends. The hunter ones, and also..." Taemin missed his best friend. Minho had been that familiar thing, who understood more than anyone what he was going through. He wasn't Minho any more though. Because of Onew... ".. and also." Taemin finished.
"Yeah, and also." Aaron sounded critical. "Ya thinkin' about the vampire again."
Taemin tried not to mention it but thoughts of Onew seemed to pester him more than anything. It was all between the blame game and feeling sorry himself. Sorry that he couldn't forgive Onew, when so much of what happened was out of Onew's control, or so he thought.
He wished he still had that same romanticized view of vampires that he once did. It would do him well to have his naive, blind faith restored. He'd question himself less.
Taemin thought in silence until he could think of something new to bring up. "I'm thinking about getting my hair done." he finally said, and smiled, proud of the much less dramatic topic. Unfortunately, Aaron didn't pick up on it, so the attempt went to waste. The older man gave a short and distracted sounding, "Good for you." Taemin wondered what Aaron was thinking, he did. He just couldn't bring himself to ask, so the two returned to silence that seemed to last the entire night.
The next morning was a much more noisy situation. Taemin noisily slurped up noodles in the tiny kitchen, announcing, "I'll be getting my hair done today!"
"We're going to the city today." Aaron very suddenly informed him.
"Huh?" Taemin frowned, "Oh.. that's sudden."
"Done here, huh?" Aaron asked.
"Yes, A." though Taemin was obviously sinking. "We're done here."
As depressed as Taemin's mother had stayed, it was strange that she didn't seem any worse when Taemin said they were leaving. She nodded her head, a frown set on her face. Taemin kissed her cheek and hugged her tight before lifting up a duffel bag and heading out ahead. He had to wait a bit before Aaron finally came, muttering, "No reasoning with that woman."
"That's my mom." Taemin proclaimed with a mock pride.
The two loaded into Aaron's van and headed for the city.
Chapter 4
When night fell on Seoul city, Taemin was still checking himself out in the mirror. His hair was cut, and red, but really that's not the change he was so interested in. It must have been the working out, or maybe just plain aging that seemed to make his face so different. Of course he'd been looking in the mirror before now, sure. He just hadn't really paid attention until he'd been in that barber's chair.
"Hey." Aaron finally scolded him. "Do ya wanna look for vampires or do ya wanna find yaself a vanity?"
Taemin promptly flipped his contact mirror closed, shoving it into the pocket of his tight pants, withdrawing his switchblade from his jacket's pocket in it's place. "Vampires it is." he smiled. "Wonder if they'll recognize me."
"Not the top of my concerns." Aaron said slowly, and Taemin followed his line of vision to a store with a broken window. Taemin frowned, uncomfortable. "The news mentioned that humans have been taking advantage of the vampire thing, right? Robbing places at night and blaming it on the undead. Shake my head."
"Look closer. There's blood." Aaron said seriously. Taemin stiffened, straining his eyes. He hadn't noticed before, but he saw it now, the red that was splattered all over the broken window sill. Whether human or vampire, it was an act of violence. He straightened up, "Think they're still around.. ? Whoever did this?"
"The one in charge here is you." Aaron told him, looking at him with an expression so sincere that Taemin almost found it funny. He didn't find much funny at all, though, about suddenly being in charge. "You have way more experience than me though, and.."
"Retired, or supposed to be. Not my time to shine. Ya wanna check this out or not, leader?"
If he was being honest, he felt inappropriately excited when he was called leader that way. With an excited grin, he hurriedly stepped forward. "What are you waiting for? Let's see."
Aaron was almost hesitant to follow, quietly mumbling "Why don't you get a little louder then?"
It was very evident to Taemin, the changes that had happened since he'd been momentarily out of touch. The city should have been louder at night. There should have been more cars out on the streets. This much, of course, should be expected when human kind finally finds out about vampires. The least someone can do is show a little caution while the sun is down. Well, not that Taemin had any room to talk. He wondered how many hunters would be born from this revelation. He wondered how many would die... Mostly, he knew that he needed a big part in it all.
He didn't have to walk far to find what he was looking for. Soon, the door to the store with the broken window swung open and three men were stepping out. Taemin paused immediately, making an ick sound as he turned back to Aaron. "There's three of them." he said nervously.
"If they're all even vampires." Aaron said pointedly.
The three of the men looked in their direction then. Taemin saw them smirking in that stereotypically evil way. He hurriedly turned back to Aaron. "They're gonna attack us."
"That's what we want, innit?"
Taemin flipped out his blade, turning towards them once again. He'd been right, the three were walking determinedly towards him. It was just then that Taemin thought he actually wasn't too into the idea of trying to kill vampires yet after all. His stomach lurched. His heart pounded. He thought of Hongki, Minho, then Siwon, then Jonghyun..
Jonghyun...
Taemin shook. He moved both hands onto the handle of his switchblade and held it out towards them. He scowled and they snickered. One asked, "What's the weapon for?" Another asked in English, "You from America? You lost?"
"Got a problem?" Aaron asked in his accented Korean. Taemin was very aware of the concerned look he was getting from the older man. Well, it didn't matter, because Aaron himself made him leader. He can't second guess himself...
"Not at all. Put that knife down and maybe we'll have some fun." spoke one of their sneering voices. It all felt surreal to Taemin. Like he'd woke up in some stereotypical dream world of gangster vampires. He was still shaking, and still scowling, when he dared them, "Make me."
"Do you know what we are?" The first one who spoke was talking again. He was distinct looking, with a large nose and a trail of piercings down his ear. Taemin turned his knife towards him, knowing that they would fight. If it was a human or a vampire, something was bad about him. It just so happened that he went on to say, "We know what you are. I can hear how fast your heart is beating."
"You don't know what I am." Taemin said softly. He had to speak in almost a whisper, or he was sure his voice would shake.
"Just a human." the apparent vampire said.
"Think again." Taemin said, eyes narrowed.
"Let's see about that." The vampire moved closer to Taemin, and Taemin stepped back. First of all, they needed to split up. He kept his eyes on the vampire who neared him, but was very much aware of Aaron withdrawing a gun from his coat. He heard those other vampires speaking to him, telling him he might as well drop it cause it wouldn't help him. He shot. It was loud. Taemin jumped, enough distracted for the vampire who neared him to get the jump on him.
He tried to take the switchblade from him, his strong cold fingers closing over Taemin's. "No!" Taemin screamed it, but the surge of rage that rushed through him was focused. This time, he wasn't wild, he didn't flail. He knew exactly what he was doing. Mind over matter, or something, and he let go of the blade with just one of his hands so he could ball it into a fist and bash the vampire right in his chin.
The vampire didn't fall back. Taemin expected as much. Vampires were strong. That's why he was already reeling back another punch. If that vampire wanted his blade, he'd have to try a lot harder than this. He hit the man in his nose this time, feeling too satisfied by the cracking sound caused by the impact. The vampire's fingers finally loosened from Taemin's blade, and Taemin shoved it forward. Just as the blade broke through the shirt of the vampire, the thing got a new grip on him, tightly grabbing and stopping his wrist.
"Let go of me." Taemin growled it. He flinched when he heard another bullet. He was focused though. Aaron would be fine.
"This is silver." the vampire growled back at him. The vampire squeezed, gripping so tightly that Taemin had to cry out. His fingers loosened, and he knew he'd drop the blade. As it began to fall, Taemin moved fast, swinging his leg in a hard kick against the vampire's thigh. The vampire sunk a bit, and Taemin used his free wrist to punch him again until he finally let go. Again, Taemin kicked, forcing a distance between himself and the vampire. Enough that he could bend down and grab his fallen weapon..
Another gun shot. Taemin whimpered at the sound this time. Then, he heard Aaron's voice. "Yep! They're vampires!" it shouted helpfully. Taemin chuckled lowly, for the moment distracted. It was enough that he didn't see it coming when the vampire he faced fast lunged at him, knocking him back onto the pavement of the sidewalk, the vampire right on top of him. It hurt, falling like that. Having just prepared enough as he fell, he saved his head from getting slammed against the ground. He tightly clutched his blade. As long as he had that, he could survive.
"You're a hunter, huh?" the vampire asked him, reaching first for his hand that held the blade. Taemin watched that hand move closely, and then with a swift movement, he stabbed through the vampire's hand with his blade. He grinned when the vampire cried out. Why? Why was it so funny?
The vampire sat up on top of Taemin, trying to pull his hand free of the blade. Taemin helped, jerking it backwards. The vampire was cursing at him, "You shit, you little shit, I'm gonna tear you apart."
Taemin's eyes went wide. The words just struck a nerve in him. Thought seemed to leave him and he just moved. As the vampire moved in towards him, trying to grab his blade with his bleeding hand, trying to lean towards his neck and have a bite, Taemin swung his switchblade again. He stabbed it into the vampire's shoulder first. When he heard him cry out, Taemin pulled it out and stabbed it again, this time into the vampire's upper back. He was almost unseeing. He just felt where the vampire was, and his body reacted to it. "Die!" he yelled, and stabbed into the back of the vampire's neck with his blade. "DIE!"
The so-called immortal then laid still on top of him. Taemin was so tightly holding the handle of his blade that his hand shook. He stared up at the vampire's face, a blank and unseeing expression. Taemin pulled the blade a bit to the side. He felt it touch the vampire's bone. He pulled it a bit more, slicing more skin open. Blood dripped from him and onto Taemin's shirt. That blood...
With one hand on the blade and one hand gently on the vampire's side, he pulled the fallen being upwards a bit so he had better access to the blood that dripped from him. It fell onto his lips. Taemin licked it. It was satisfying. The flavor of it is hard to describe, but it was very much the answer to a craving Taemin didn't know he had. It wasn't his first time drinking it. He remembered that first time, when it had saved his life. He was one of few surviving humans that knew what vampire blood did to humans, and he liked it. He licked his lips again as more blood dripped. His hand still on the blade that stuck into the vampire's neck, Taemin leaned up to gently lick and suck at the flowing dead blood. The more he tasted it, the more the flavor seemed almost bad, but for some reason he needed more. He vaguely wondered if that's what cigarettes were like. His body shivered then, and his eyelids fluttered as the energy flowing into him along with the blood seemed to form a very sudden high. Taemin sighed happily against split open skin.
"Hey! You alive over there?" he suddenly heard Aaron ask. Taemin jerked his blade out. Blood came more freely falling into his mouth and after he took a big gulp he giggled, then finally threw the vampire off of himself. "Coming~." he announced, pulling himself to his feet. He wiped some of the blood from his mouth with the back of his fist. He licked the rest.
When Taemin looked over at Aaron, he saw him scrapping with the two other vampires, gun apparently forgotten. Actually, he looked like he had it completely under control. He honestly seemed to be toying with them. Taemin laughed as he walked closer. "I don't guess you need help." he suspected out loud.
Aaron gave him a funny look, then pushed one mostly beaten vampire towards Taemin. "Have one."
Taemin used his left hand, the one that didn't hold onto his weapon, to punch the vampire so hard in the face that his neck cracked. He made it look easy. Aaron, still giving him a funny look, took out his gun and shot the vampire that had remained for himself in the neck. This time, Taemin didn't flinch at the sound. Taemin was too busy dropping down on the vampire he'd punched out, stabbing his blade into his neck with a quiet laugh.
"We need to get out of here." Aaron told Taemin. Taemin looked up at him, inattentively twisting his blade in the vampire's skin. "Oh. Because of people." he cleverly realized. Aaron nodded. Taemin got to his feet. "Well I'll follow you?
"Nuh-uh." Aaron said with a sigh. "Are ya the leader or not?"
"Oh." Taemin smiled. "In that case, let's go get a hotel." Taemin laughed somewhat, noting. "I'm bloody."
"Yes you are." Aaron said the words heavily, eyeing Taemin with one of his funny expressions, one eye seeming so much larger than the other. Taemin snickered at it and started walking. He moved closer to the buildings, closer to the sidewalk. Aaron followed close.
"What ya did was damn impossible." he told Taemin.
"Hm? Not with vampire blood." Taemin explained. "I drank it. But you can't tell anyone. Humans aren't supposed to know, and any that do will be at risk..."
".. Ya crazy ass is telling me that ya just drank that damn vampire's blood?"
"Yuh-huh. Now I'm strong." Taemin glanced over his shoulder at Aaron. "Like a vampire. It's kind of.. a weapon."
Aaron's face was some mix of disgusted and confused. "Uh-huh. Crazy ass."
It was kind of Aaron, after that, to just kind of let the topic slide. As much as Taemin honestly wanted to stay out, he was bloodtastic now, so the two did find a hotel (which Aaron checked into, and Taemin just walked to the room from the parking garage.) They'd need to find a more permanent place, but for now the two double beds in one room suited Taemin fine. It was still surprisingly easy to be quiet with Aaron. Even when he'd just told Aaron his big secret. Even when his mind was buzzing with hard, cold, depressing thoughts.
He fell asleep while imagining how Key would feel if Taemin ripped his own fangs into her neck.
Chapter 5
Months went by, the weather got warm. Taemin and Aaron had found their place in Seoul city, a shabby but mostly secluded apartment. Seclusion in the city wasn't easy, obviously, but this was at least a mostly inactive street - and no one else in the apartment building seemed to be vampires. Staying in hotels was nicer than the place, where Taemin slept on a futon on the floor, but they weren't made of money. In fact, money was something major to stress about. With his former hunting group, Jungmo and Jay did well with their music. They could easily make enough in tips to keep them going. In this case, they had to rely on Aaron's funds, as well as some of Taemin and his mother's. It wasn't legal for Aaron to get work in Korea anyway. Taemin was now a school drop out, and well in fact, he'd need to create a whole identity since he was technically wanted by Police. Once he'd wondered out loud about singing for money. When he showed Aaron an example of his singing, Aaron quickly shut his idea down.
There was always money that they could pull away from vampires they killed. If only they were lucky enough to kill much more of those..
The chaos of publicized vampires didn't seem to be dying down any. In this shit situation, Taemin worried a lot about the other hunters, his other friends. That's precisely why he originally began his blog.
Testing! Testing! Is this a secure connection?
Just kidding~ of course it is.
My name is Lee Taemin and I'm a vampire hunter.
I'm looking for my friends. Jay, and Jungmo, and Sungmin.
If you're reading this, hi! I'm okay! I miss you guys.
For you other people ^^ Hi!
How would you like to join the good fight?
Getting your blog to be popular was hard. As much as he searched online and tried to get the word out, nothing seemed to work. Not even the awesome crayon drawn doodles he did. Aaron called him an idiot, and asked, "What kinna dumbass would trust some blog like that?"
Taemin pouted at him and insisted that he keep trying.
Aaron kept more up to date with the news situation, looking for leads on vampire activity. A suspicious enough place opened up in one area of Seoul. It was an all-night sweet shop called "Good Night Sugar", located near the campus of Seoul University. "If anyone's dumb enough to go out at night lately, it's some damn college students."
"It's kind of a nice place though, don't you think?" Taemin asked, and asked it again when they walked up to it in person. It was nice. The building was painted pinkish, and the windows were lit up and contained displays of delicious looking a snacks. Taemin was eyeing some crescent moon-shaped cookies with great appreciation. There was a line though - a ridiculously long one that backed somewhat out of the small building.
"With all these people here, what can vampires do anyway?" Taemin questioned.
"Now since when is a busy place a safe place fa anybody?" Aaron questioned Taemin, giving him a look.
Taemin laughed awkwardly in response. "I'm just saying.." He really did wonder though. He looked around for suspicious activity, but if there was any, he was blind to it.
"What's our move?" Aaron asked him then, seeming a bit impatient himself. It was early tonight, so Taemin didn't blame him. He wanted some action too...
"Not standing in line." Taemin said, though he was disappointed by it himself. "Let's check around here. In the places where people might get dragged."
Aaron nodded his approval, then asked, "Split up?"
Taemin nodded back, "But be quiet this time. Since we're in a busy place."
The amused look on Aaron's face was a little condescending, not that he could be blamed. Taemin figured the only reason he was in charge was because Aaron was testing him, seeing how well he might do on his own. Taemin didn't think Aaron would stay with him for long. He was 'retired', after all. It made him want to find his former hunting friends that much more.
Taemin walked ahead first. The air was smelling good, like cakes and pies, which was more than a little distracting. Really, most of his meals lately were the instant or the disgusting kind. They had to deal with what they could afford. Cake would be so, so good...
He tried not to let the stomach get the best of him. Focus, he'd learned, was one of the most important traits for a hunter to have. He walked determinedly down the sidewalk, further from the bakery. In the darkened shadows, it would be all too easy for a vampire to drag some prey around. Maybe a guy would just look like he was helping his tired girlfriend, or-- "Uh!!! Chocolate chip!!" Taemin whined, gazing at a nearby bench where a small man sat, chewing on a chocolate chip cookie. Apparently, he heard Taemin, because he gave him an odd look and then looked very possessive of his cookie. He had a hard gangster type of face, so it was especially effective in making Taemin feel very small. He rubbed the back of his head, just a bit ashamed with himself. "Sorry.." he murmured.
"Hey. You're Lee Taemin."
Taemin flinched and turned hurriedly toward the voice. He was met with a large guy wearing glasses, someone vaguely familiar, who he of course stepped quickly back from. "Who are you?"
"I know who you are, but you don't know me?" The man raised a brow. "Well this is awkward."
Taemin looked closely at him, and asked in a soft voice, "Are you from The Council?"
"Yeah, you can call me Taec." He grinned big teeth at Taemin. "Love the blog."
That suddenly mattered much more than the fact that Taec was an imminent threat. Taemin straightened up and smiled brightly, "You read it? I didn't think anyone read it."
It was the first time that Taemin noticed Taec had a bag from the sweets shop. The vampire lifted a really delicious looking pastry to his mouth and bit into it, looking amused as he chewed, and finally answering after he swallowed. "You think The Council doesn't keep some kinda tabs on you when you make it that easy?"
Taemin nodded and calmed, more serious now. "You're the first vampire I've recognized from The Council."
"You might have noticed we're busy taking over the world." The vampire grinned between bites of his pastry.
"I didn't really." Taemin responded with a smirk. "I've been busy kicking vampire ass."
Taec laughed. Taemin noticed then that he was looking towards that bench. Taemin turned the slightest shade of pink when he turned to see the chocolate chip cookie guy watching them with an expression of vague interest. This, this is why vampires can't do anything in public.
Well, unless they're Taec apparently. The large vampire moved forward while Taemin was distractedly looking to cookie guy. Taemin took a punch to the face that had him falling on his ass. When he tried to bounce right back up from the ground, Taec stepped on his chest and pinned him. He still held his "Good Night Sugar" bag under one arm.
Taemin grunted and grabbed onto Taec's foot, trying to push it off of his chest. The foot remained still, no, it pushed down harder on Taemin, crushing him against the sidewalk. Taemin whined in pain, reaching a hand into his pocket, feeling for his weapon..
"I don't mind making an example out of you right here." Taec said decidedly, and dropped his bag onto the ground nearby in such a way that it impressively didn't topple over. Taemin was finding it hard to breath with the crushing feeling on his chest. At this rate, his bones could snap..
"Hey."
Taec and Taemin both looked over. The cookie guy stood next to them now, cookieless. He was glaring at a much taller Taec. "Move along." he demanded.
"What are you gonna do about it, T--" before Taec could finish this thought, the smaller vampire shoved him by his chest away from Taemin. Taemin took a deep breath, putting a hand over his bruised feeling chest as he sat up. His other hand finally clutched his blade, and he withdrew it. However, by the time he was on his feet, the scuffle between vampires was over. Taec was stepping back and shooting the short man a hateful look.
"I don't have time for you two." Taec announced, and grabbed up the bag he'd left on the ground. Pulling another pastry from the bag, he started walking off.
"Wait." Taemin started after him, but then stopped himself, turning instead to the cookie guy that had defended him. "No, I mean. Hi. Thanks. Who are you?"
The small man glared a little, and said, "I'm leaving." That simply, he started walking away.
"But. Wait. Do you know what that was? Who that was?" Taemin hurriedly walked after him. "It was a vampire."
"I know who it was." the man shortly explained.
"Well, then, who are you?"
"I'm leaving." he said again.
"Don't leave!" Taemin hurried, rushing to step in front of the man. "Why did you save me? I don't understand. Please, just.."
The man grabbed onto Taemin's arms then, dragging him with a growl between two buildings. Taemin, though bewildered, reflexively swung his arms to knock the man's away. He hurriedly stepped back, blinking at him. "I.."
"I'm a vampire!" the man told him.
"You're a vampire and you saved me?" Taemin's eyes grew wide with admiration.
"If people make a scene around there, the shop is going to get shut down." The vampire informed Taemin in an annoyed, matter-of-fact tone. "That's why I saved you. So either run away or get eaten now."
"You saved me to save the shop?" Taemin scratched his head.
"Why else?"
"Awfully nice of you to protect the shop, is all.."
"The cookies are good." Frowning, the man then turned to walk away.
Taemin hurried up behind him, grinning even more brightly as he grabbed onto his shoulders. "You saved me to save cookies?"
The man turned around, and though he was much smaller, he knocked Taemin's hands away like they were nothing, then roughly shoved the human against a wall. He looked not angry, but annoyed up at Taemin's face, and spoke warningly. "I WILL eat you."
"Same." Taemin said lightly. While the vampire was busy trying to figure out just what that meant, Taemin unflipped his switchblade and slashed it at the shorter man, who hurriedly stepped back, officially angry when he looked down to see a deep slash across his abdomen.
"Sorry." Taemin told him, biting his lip as he gazed at blood gushing out of the vampire. "It's just that.." he trailed off when the man fell backwards, unconscious.
".. I'll tell you later." Taemin softly finished.