Velvet Necrosis • vampire tk

Four

Up, up, and up they go, out of the underground, into the house. Jungkook stumbles when they get to the main level, assaulted by the sudden onrush of sensations - the incessant ticking of hidden electronics; chilly air flowing through an open gap, filled with a myriad of forest scents; silvery moonlight refracting from window panes, like a shy guest that peeks through, uninvited. And the dark night, how he's never realized the blackness is made of a hundred different hues, of greys and blurred charcoal, laced with shadows like some secret language of shapes and lines.

Jungkook gasps and blinks fast, trying desperately to curb the tremble that's coursing through his body. The figure next to him pauses, holding onto his arm for support.

"It's... I... is it always so... so much?"

"You'll get used to it. Although, ichor of the Ancient is more potent. Most fledglings go mad on the spot. Tear their own bodies into pieces." The voice is detached.

Jungkook grimaces, "The Ancient... Is that what you are, Tae-Taehyung?"

A hollow little smile, "I suppose. Never met any older than me, but they might be out there." The hand supporting his arm tightens, "Feed outside. Come."

Jungkook feels the tug. Suddenly, the world whirls dizzily, and they are already through the main door and bathed in moonlight outside. Jungkook gapes but no sound comes out, just an airy gasp half stuck in his throat as he's lifted by the waist like a weightless doll, floating up and up.

The chilling air rustles his hair, and his eyes widen at the world that assaults all his senses, as if seeing it for the first time ever.

Life, in its infinite details, gleaming and vibrating and creaking and ruffling all around him, a cacophony of tree branches and scrambling critters and clouds shifting with the whispering wind.

They're flying, two leaves gliding above air, the moonlight penetrating straight through their weightless bodies, not caring to cast a shadow. Taehyung's arm is looped around Jungkook's waist, the motion stiff and unbreakable, but Jungkook barely notices. His eyes are wide open and fluttering, mouth gaping soundlessly. There's no wayward heartbeat against his ribcage, no stuttered breath that makes him dizzy. Death is a void, a hollow nothingness, yet filled to the brim with impossible beauty, more alive than he's ever felt.

Focus. Look down.

The voice sounds in his head, but Jungkook already senses it below them as Taehyung slows down and descends towards the ground. A pulse, rhythmic and dripping with vitality, beckoning for him to come closer. His eyes are drawn to it, a tall deer with large ears, head dipped low and rummaging through the grass. He can almost touch it, the pulse that radiates from the animal, warm and glowing, making his veins ache with longing. Every cell of his body clamors in response - his feet step forward as if in a trance, his teeth throb and rip through his gum like blades unsheathed, his muscles and joint tense with explosive energy, ready for something savagely gratifying.

You know what to do.

The deer's head snaps up, fluffy ears turning and trembling, pulse speeding up at the sudden realization of danger. Jungkook can feel the motion, that instantaneous jolt to flee, and a thought explodes in his mind, raw and unchallenged, scaring himself.

Mine.

The next moment is a blur. His body is instantaneously upon the animal, hands pushing into the warm neck so hard that the deer stumbles and shrieks, a frantic hiss that reverberates in his ears as they tumble down together. He wants to get close to the pulse, needs to become one with it, must soak it all up to quench the insatiable thirst within - tearing, ripping, unflinching doe eye, screams and kicks that collapse into a dissonnant chorus, and then, suddenly - blood. Thick, gushing, lucious, most stunning fluid that coats his lips and dribbles down his throat, killing all the noises, all the aches, suspending the moment into infinity. It feels different than Taehyung - lighter, airy like flight, pretty in its frailty like an impeccable little spring song.

Jungkook keeps slurping it up, as the fountain of blood gushes and trembles, just for him. His mind is rising aimlessly, into a blissful cloud, further and further away, as the pulse becomes slower and slower, stretching into a single shivering note-

"Stop." A hand pulls on his shoulder and rips him away, Taehyung's voice thunders behind him, making his head spin, "Stop before the heart ceases to beat. Always. You're too young."

He fights to get back to the source of warmth, but the hand grips onto him like an iron vise, digging into his skin. Jungkook grimaces, and the pulsating glow in front of him is gone, taking away the alluring blur. The world in front of him is physical again, a carnage of broken bones and torn flesh, stinging his eyes. The corpse of the deer has long stopped moving, its limbs frozen in a macabre dance. Jungkook wipes his face, feeling the bloody remnants on his hand. Something heavy and unnamed shrills in his heart, threatening to implode. Jungkook blinks hard, stunned, and turn to look for Taehyung desperately.

There, behind him, the long silhouette that looms beneath the moonlight, just like when he used to ride across these hills with Jules alone. Taehyung's gaze is dim and impassive, his voice echoing on Jungkook's mind, mixed into the bloody mess that can never be washed away.

It's as it should be. This is who you are now. Who we are.