The Coven: Book 1 | ✔️

Chapter 5 - Seven

Amelia learned there were seven men in the house and that all of them were vampires, like she had firstly thought. Among them, Jungkook, Jimin and another person she hadn't met yet were the younger ones, with Jungkook being the youngest.

Much like he said he would, Jimin brought Jin with him, who brought a tray of food. Jin was most likely the most beautiful man she had ever come across. Besides being tall, with broad shoulders and a lean figure to him, his face was beautifully shaped and dark brown hair messily arranged. His smile was kind as well... And that brought a certain rest to the tension in her body.

Amelia met him, who owned the mansion she was in, and was also the oldest. Yoongi, who was the second oldest, was the one who seemed more earnest in meeting her. Amelia was able to remember him as the one she had encountered when first going downstairs. Namjoon was next and she could barely recall him as the one that had prevented her from falling two days ago. He seemed nice, with an amusing cocky attitude and side smirk. Of Hoseok, Amelia had no recollection of seeing or talking to. Then again, that whole moment was still a big daze. But his smile was bright and friendly, like Jimin's.

"You'll have to excuse Taehyung, he's not the most sociable person. He'll come around, don't worry." Jin said politely, smiling at her as he placed the tray on top of her legs proudly "Here, I made some soup."

Her eyes drifted towards the tray and Amelia was pleasantly surprised by the nice smell of broth. She wasn't used to such niceties anymore, it had been far too long. And it sure as hell brought tears to her eyes. She carefully blinked them off, though. She couldn't allow herself to show even more weakness in front of them.

"Amelia, isn't it?" Yoongi asked, sitting himself at end of the bed. To her soft nod, he smiled "Finally, we can stop calling her 'Jungkook's girl'!"

"Ah, Hyung!" Jungkook whined, already flushing a tad bit and frowning.

"Jungkook's...?" She mumbled, not really understanding.

"Yeah, the guy's been taking care of you for days!" Hoseok bit in, smirking.

"Like a watch dog." Namjoon said as well, grinning wide when noticing Jungkook was now an ashamed mess.

Not enjoying the teasing, Jungkook rolled his eyes and got up to leave the room. He heard Namjoon and Yoongi snicker behind him, which only made him more furious. Why did they always feel the need to embarrass him in some way?

"Is that true?" Amelia asked, looking at the door, where Jungkook's back disappeared into the hall.

"Yeah, he's been taking care of you since you were brought here." Yoongi was the one to reply, still side smirking.

Amelia pondered on this knew information.

Just like she thought, Jungkook was indeed very kind.

Looking at the soup in front of her, she decided to test the hot broth in front of her and raised the spoon to her mouth. Her tongue was embraced in an explosion of flavor, the taste feeling like a warm embrace. It tasted amazing! The problem was swallowing. As soon as she attempted to do it, her throat painfully constricted and she winced, whimpering when the sharp pain became harsher.

"What's wrong?" Jimin asked, with the other guys freaking out as well.

Jin didn't move, though, his head tilting to study her expression and then frowning a bit when she reached her hand up to the column of her neck.

"Does your throat hurt?" He asked, nodding towards her hand.

Amelia pressed her lips, suppressing her increasing anger and frustration, and nodded meekly, forcing the corners of her lips to nudge a bit. Jin narrowed his eyes.

"Figures, you had strangulation bruises on your neck when you came in."

Right. Amelia remembered that as well. She remembered the weight on top of her when the 'thing' grew furious and began to strangle her, big hands wrapping around her neck and slowly constricting air, all the while his blood dripping onto her face. She also remembered the darkness that came afterwards.

"Who did this to you?"

Of course they would ask questions. Vampires and demons didn't get along. They liked each other as much as her own kind did. And no one helped anyone without wanting questions answered. She was mostly surprised that Jungkook didn't ask any at all.
Amelia placed the spoon back down, afraid to even look at Jin, still waiting for his answer.

"No one you need to concern yourself with." She managed to let out, surprised her voice didn't fail and still sounded strong in a way.

"I understand if it's too soon to talk, but if there's anyone... anything, after you, I'd like to help."

Ah! Maybe Jin thought she didn't know about demons. Well, she did. Had spent a very long time getting to know them.

"You can't help me." Amelia breathed out, exhaustion pouring over her again.

She was beginning to surrender. Whatever help they might bring wasn't fast enough. It had already passed over two weeks, who knew how much longer she had. Even if Amelia tried to get in touch with someone, they wouldn't be there fast enough.

Jin frowned, the look of sadness in Amelia's eyes too strange for his understanding. He ended up sending the rest of the guys away, telling them she needed some more rest.

"Look, I won't press. I won't force you to talk, much less keep you here against your will." Jin said, his hand on the doorknob "All I'm trying to do here is help you. If anything, to kill the people that did this to you. But if you don't want to, that's alright. But at least allow us to still care for you while your body is still weak."

Amelia frowned and then nodded like a puppy, not having much choice.

It's not like she could go and tell Jin that she was never really going to recuperate. Her health was only going to get worse.

After the whole group was out of the room, the door only half closed, Amelia allowed her body to heavily drop on the pillows on her back, taking the time to evaluate her own body.

It felt stiff. All of her muscles were sore and strained when she attempted to move. The one thing that hurt the most was her chest. It ached constantly, all the time. A throbbing pain that lingered, sometimes alleviating only enough so she could focus on her own thoughts, but there were moments when it was hard to even breathe.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much to be done. She brought back her head to look to the tray on her lap. Well, it hurt, but might as well try to eat something.
Slowly, she began to bring spoonful after spoonful, the warmth of the broth making it easier by the second to swallow. By the time she was done, it didn't hurt as much and she was strong enough to grab the glass of water Jungkook had left by the bed and have a couple of sips.

With a bit of struggle, she managed to remove the tray from her legs and then lean back again into the pillows, exhaling a sigh.

Her eyes went to the skin on the inside of her wrists.

She remembered the colorful, tangly assortment of flowers and butterflies that had once been there. Easing her index and middle finger over the clean skin, she found it still soft and with the same color. But the beautiful tattoos she had loved so much would never glow again. All of her soul was gone. It brought tears to her eyes again. The emptiness was overwhelming, like absolute vacuum had taken over the place where the warmth had once been.

Her bottom lip trembled slightly when reaching the inside of her elbow. The skin was empty...

A sound by the door had her looking up.

There was a man there now. One she hadn't met yet. And by the counting of men in the house, this was the one Jin had mentioned wasn't sociable.

"Taehyung." She mumbled, breathy, tilting her head to him "Is that right?"

He walked in, nodding slightly. Immediately, she was able to tell Taehyung wasn't fond of her. His eyes were exploring her with a hint of unpleasantry, like he didn't like, or want, her presence there.

And much like his six brothers, Taehyung was beautiful. She had noticed the unusual colors of hair among the others. Yoongi had white, silvery hair, while Jimin was rocking that blueish silver on him; Namjoon had a more natural blond, compared to the others; Hoseok had a hint of red in his hair, and Jungkook and Jin were the only ones with a more natural color. Taehyung, however, was sporting an unnatural shade of gray in his hair, which, along with the blue of his irises, made him look like some ethereal being. Amelia noticed he had pretty hands, too, long and elegant.

"So, you're awake." He mumbled slow, his voice a deep baritone, smooth and elegant.

She nodded softly, childlike. For some reason, his stare was a tad bit unsettling.

"I see you have my brothers wrapped around your little finger, huh? Having them bring you food and all." Yes, clearly Taehyung didn't want her there.

"I didn't ask for anything... But if it brings you any comfort, I won't stay here long. As soon as I'm able to move better I'll be out of your hair." She said, suddenly growing afraid when she noticed him rounding the bed and coming towards her slowly, like a predator studying his prey.

This was exactly why she couldn't trust what Jin had said. There was no way of knowing when this tall man in front of her wouldn't just jump at her throat and snap it in a second. Amelia felt smaller by the second under his cold stare, dropping her gaze to her lap and avoiding him altogether.

"Good. That won't give me much work. It would be even better if you could leave now."

"Now?" She raised her head back to him.

"You're awake now, aren't you?" He raised an eyebrow, in sarcasm, drawing a little mean grin "Ah, but you're sick, right? Still bed ridden? What for, so you can have Jungkook around you like a little puppy?"

Well, he really didn't like her, now did he? At least he didn't hide it, right?

"I'm confused... what is it you want?"

"I want you to leave."

"And I will."

Taehyung released an angry breath and used his tongue to poke the inside of his cheek, brows furrowed in annoyance. But what happened next made her want to crawl out of her skin.

He raised his big hand suddenly, bringing it towards her face in a flash. The movement was so fast for her, that all Amelia could do in reflex was flinch away with a sharp intake of breath, memories of what had been done to her flashing in front of her eyes.

The excruciating pain, the beatings, the hunger, the thirst, endless nights without sleeping. The blood, hers and theirs....

Right from the moment he walked inside the room, her scent had been the first thing he noticed. It was a light and sweet flowery perfume, with the hints of lemons from the hair products Ellie had used on the woman.

Amelia... it was a beautiful name.
However, her perfume was clouded with the smoky scent of fear as she studied him. Her cheeks were flushed with fever and he saw her eyes tearing up. He didn't like it.

As he had made his point on making her leave, Taehyung felt a strange pull at his heart when she seemed to struggle to look his way, cowering in fear. But the worse happened when he went to check her temperature.

Taehyung frowned when he saw the woman recoil in pure panic, away from his touch. Her dark eyes widened as she looked at the hand reaching towards her, lips parted while she panted deeply and body shrinking in size, before she closed her eyes tightly and turned her head, expecting something. He had scented the fear in her as he got closer to the bed, but this was different. Her look was one of pure terror, hands beginning to clutch at her sheets, trembling. He almost lowered his hand back, when he saw the tears falling on her face but he still went to touch her cheek.

She whimpered then. A very low and submissive whimper, still recoiling further away from him, that only made him wonder further what the hell had been done to her. He felt horrible to see her release a breath in panic, realizing he didn't want, nor did he like that she was afraid of him.

But he cringed at the high temperature from her body. She was insanely hot, an unnatural temperature that could only sent someone to the ER. How she was awake and speaking he couldn't fathom...

His eyes softened a little. There was no way this girl was going anywhere soon. Her fevers still made her delirious, he knew that. His thumb stroked her cheek, unconsciously feeling the soft, silky skin, and she seemed to relax for a second.

"Tae!"

The call that came from the door had Amelia turning her head towards it, seeing Jungkook on the threshold now, a look of anger flooding his expression again, eyes going blood red when seeing her receding away from Taehyung, with such a look of horror in her face and freshly fallen tears on her cheeks.

He had seen red, then. Jungkook was fine with Taehyung getting on his nerves about Amelia, but to go up and try to hurt her?

"What the hell did you do?" Jungkook ran too fast for her eyes to process, then grabbing Taehyung by the collar of his shirt, roughly drawing the other boy's body close to him as he drawled angrily "What the fuck did you do to her!"

When Jungkook shouted that last question, Jin and Yoongi appeared by the door as well, panic in their faces when seeing Jungkook almost about to bite Taehyung's head off. Yoongi rushed towards Taehyung, to try and separate him from Jungkook.

Amelia was completely stupefied to see Taehyung chuckle darkly in Jungkook's face, who only grew even more furious. Jin held him through furious attempts to reach Taehyung again to be able to hit him in the face. Even as he watched Yoongi drag Taehyung all the way to the exit and pull him out the door.
Jin argued with him, attempting to have him calm down. Jungkook however, was still furious, his anger almost animalistic as he growled deep in his chest.

"Jungkook."

Like a button was pressed inside of him, Jungkook stopped moving around almost instantly after listening to Amelia's breathy call for him. He slowly turned his head towards her, waiting for some sort of command.

"He didn't hurt me."

And just like that he was calmer. His breathing became steadier and controlled, eyes returning to that beautiful color she liked, features relaxing to make him look jovial again. Jin let go of Jungkook, surprised at how easy it was for Amelia to calm him down so fast.

"Amelia, what happened?" Jin finally asked, turning towards her, a bit out of breath.

"Taehyung just came to see me, is all. He was going to check my temperature and I got scared since I wasn't expecting it. That's all it was."

"So he didn't hurt you?" Jin insisted, thinking she may be hiding something.

Amelia shook her head no, looking back to Jungkook, pacing away from the bed.

Jin looked at her one last time, maybe still trying to see if there was sort of lie in her words. But when nothing came to him, Jin nodded and then studied Jungkook's behavior for a second, testing to see if he was better.

"I'll talk to Taehyung." The older vampire said, patting Jungkook on the back before leaving.

The room grew silent again, with only Jungkook's steps, back and forth, and his breathing breaking the silence.

She was now looking at him carefully. She had never seen a vampire act like this. It was a bit like Namjoon had said when he had been over. Jungkook acted a bit like a watch dog when around her, and not in referral to the growling part. It was the possessive way he didn't want the other guys near her. Jimin just that morning had been an example. He had only been touching her hand innocently but Jungkook growled.

And just now couldn't have been just because he saw her shying away from Taehyung's touch.

"Are you okay?" She softly asked him.
His back was turned to her so she could barely discern his nod.

Not enjoying how he still didn't talk to her, Amelia decided to press on and do what may have been a poor choice. She raised the covers off of her and struggled to have her legs dangling from the bed, in a weak attempt to get up from bed. It was when she grunted in discomfort that Jungkook looked over and almost had a heart attack.

"What are you doing?" He urged, rushing towards her in only a second, his hands hovering over her body like he didn't know where to touch.

"Well you weren't answering me- Crap!" There was a sudden rush to her head, the pain in her body making her ears go deaf and her eyes almost to roll back, nausea beginning to build in the pit of her stomach.

Jungkook's panic evaporated into thin air and he took action, instantly steadying her by the shoulders and then looping his arm under her legs to place them back inside the covers. He hurriedly pushed her down to the pillows again and then one of his palms came to rest at her cheek, feeling warmth. The cool temperature of his hand atop the uncomfortable hotness of her skin made Amelia lean into his hand, sighing in contempt.

"You look exhausted." Jungkook mumbled, sitting beside her on the bed and using a damp cloth to clean her forehead.

She almost fell asleep, then. The coolness of the fabric, along with the soft feel of his skin were lulling her into another deep sleep.

"Don't be mad at Taehyung." Amelia breathed out, trying her hardest to focus on his eyes again.

"I won't. Sleep, it's okay,"

"No- Jungkook." She was able to grab his wrist and bring his full attention to herself "I mean this, do not be mad at your brother. He didn't hurt me."

Jungkook relaxed, but there was still tension in his shoulders as he huffed and rubbed his eyes with one hand, while his other one, that Amelia had grasped, was shifting so he could hold hers. His fingers moved on top of her skin, as if the feel of it gave him comfort.

"I know... but I don't like that he was so close to you."

She felt a little strange to know that. This wasn't just someone being angry over his brother stepping over a boundary. This was pure, seething jealousy. Amelia was confused, all things considered. Jungkook didn't even know her.

Her eyes were starting to cloud over with exhaustion again. This was irritating. If the next few days were supposed to be spent like this, just brewing around in exhaustion and pain, she'd much rather have it end quicker.

Jungkook's hand squeezed hers lightly. Thinking back to how he reacted, maybe he was just angry that Taehyung would hurt her after Jungkook had spent so long making sure to nurse her back to health? But Taehyung hadn't been harmful... he'd been gentle, actually.

"Just get some rest, okay? I promise I'm not mad at him." Jungkook mumbled, his eyes softening and muscles relaxing on the chair.

Amelia nodded meekly, melting into the bed again, studying his features carefully. He really was handsome, with a soft look to his face when his bangs were falling on his eyes in large curls.

Still staring at him, Amelia felt the darkness start to take over her, lulling her into a restless sleep.

~Sass 😘