Lovely | BTS ✓

20

Taehyung has no idea where he is running; he just knows he has to get away from this house.

The feeling of being unwelcome wasn't because the darkness within the house wanted to consume him.

It was a warning.

He can hear August running behind him, heaving breaths and branches breaking underneath his feet as he tears after Taehyung, who is running blindly through the woods with no idea which direction he is going.

Low-hung branches cut across Taehyung's skin, the autumn chill biting into every part of his exposed skin until he feels numb. But he can't think of anything except continuing to move forward.

In his panic, he doesn't realize August closing in until it's too late.

The last thing he feels is a sharp pain on the side of his head before he collapses onto the leaf-strewn ground.

•••

Taehyung's eyes flutter open, a low groan escaping his lips.

"That was very rude to act that way in front of my sister, Taehyung," August's voice says as Taehyung tries to focus on the blurry world around him.

He tries to move his hand to feel where his head is pounding, but he realizes he can't move.

His hands are tied to the arms of a chair, ankles bound just as tightly as a sickly familiar scent fills his nostrils.

One look to his left and he screams; Amelia is just inches from him, her decaying body nearly brushing against him. Her arm has been put back into place, held together by a combination of stitches and staples.

"I've been worried about how lonely she gets in here," August says. "I'm such a busy man. No matter how much time I set aside for her, she asks for more. So demanding, my sister."

Taehyung's chin quivers as reality begins to set in. "You killed your family. You killed her."

August's eyes darken, storm clouds gathering within them. "I would never hurt her. My careless father was driving the car that he, my mother and my Amelia were in, and killed them all. I took my sister from her pitiful box in the dirt and I gave her such a better place to spend her days. Look at how happy she is, Taehyung."

August looks at his sister's slumped form, arms crossed over his chest. He turns his attention back to Taehyung.

"I've seen the way you look at her painting, Taehyung," August says, his eyes lighting up. "You love her too, don't you?"

Taehyung stays silent.

"It's okay not to want to talk to me right now," August says, putting his hands behind his back. "I understand you two want some alone time to get to know each other. I'll get out of the way."

He grins, holding up his hands in casual surrender as he backs up until he's standing just outside the doorway to the secret room.

Taehyung begins to scream in the hopes that anyone can hear him, can help him.

No one does.

August looks at the two of them one last time, the door in his hand.

"You two would make a lovely couple."

With that, he closes the door. Taehyung's screaming becomes nothing more than a muffled sound as the shadows of the house engulf him, turning him into just another secret in the house that not even the sun wishes to touch.