Treasures of The Damned

30. Likely A Result Of Living

Briar yelped out in pain would Jongho fell on top of her, but she slowly and gently moved his body to lay down. "I'm sorry, Uncle..." She whispered as she glanced back at Hongjoong and Yunho.

"Why-...why would you make her do that...?" Yunho asked softly, staring over at Hongjoong with wide, scared eyes. "You made her kill him!"

"I didn't make her do anything." Hongjoong snarled, but let Yunho run over to Jongho and Briar. He very gently took Jongho's body, holding it close before setting the youngest down on his back, letting him rest peacefully.

"What do we do, Briar...?" Yunho asked softly, turning to look over at the girl. Brian didn't say anything for a few moments, just stared over at Jongho's body.

"Briar...?"

"I don't know..." She whispered back, before crying out in pain as Hongjoong grabbed her by the hair and yanked her back.

"You're coming with me. And you're going to be a good little girl about it too." Hongjoong smirked and snarled. "And don't try to fight me. You forget that I have your precious dad under my control. You fight me, I will make him kill himself." He warned, before glaring over at Yunho. "And you stay there. Don't you think about following me or you'll be next."

Briar glanced over at Yunho with scared eyes, and he gently glanced back over to her before slowly shaking his head. "I'm sorry Briar-...he's not allowing me to move-..."

"It's okay, Uncle...I understand..." Her words were cut off, however, when Hongjoong yanked her away by the hair again and forced her to stand up.

She glared at Hongjoong for a few moments, but the leader didn't even look at her, just held her by the hair and led her out away from Jongho's area of the park.

He hummed for a few moments and couldn't help but chuckle. "Oh, Briar. You are such a precious little girl. You were always my favorite niece. Always well-behaved, and ready to do anything for everyone. Why did you have to grow up into someone I hate?"

"I don't know. Maybe because you became a literal asshole after your death? I think that may be why." She was cut off with a cry of pain when Hongjoong yanked on her hair once more and snarled at her.

"I wouldn't be sarcastic, little girl." Hongjoong snapped. He glared down at her before chuckling. His eyes glowed red for a few moments before footsteps could be heard near him.

Hongjoong stopped, which also pulled Briar to a stop. Briar slowly and cautiously looked around. Hongjoong could have anyone in his control.

"Hongjoong? What're you doing with Briar?" Footsteps from behind them alerted Hongjoong, who turned around quickly, yanking Briar with him in the process, forcing another cry from her lips.

Briar looked over to the side as best she could to see the familiar cotton candy pink hair of one of her Uncles.

"Seonghwa? What're you doing over here?" Hongjoong asked with a worried look, walking over to his husband and kissing him gently. Seonghwa gently kissed Hongjoong back but didn't say anything for a few moments, just glanced over at his lover with a small, worried little look as he glanced down at Briar.

"I was-...walking around to try and find Jongho when I heard your voice. I was curious, so come over here to check." He explained softly, blinking to his husband with a small smile.

Hongjoong narrowed his eyes. "You won't have to look for Jongho anymore. Briar here stabbed him and powered him off." That caught Seonghwa's attention and he glanced over at Briar, who quickly shook her head.

"That's not what happened! Hongjoong was controlling him and he was going to attack me. He asked me to power him off so he couldn't be under Hongjoong's control anymore-..." Briar said quickly, watching her oldest uncle. The one who had warned her about Hongjoong and his evil plan. He had to believe her, right?

Seonghwa didn't say anything, just stared at Briar for a few moments before nodding his head, believing his niece. Hongjoong snarled when Seonghwa turned to him.

"Why do you believe this human girl more than your husband, Seonghwa? We're supposed to be in this together."

"We are in this together. But you need to stop killing people, my love. It's not good. We leave families wondering and searching. That's the same thing that happened with you and me, remember? My body wasn't found for a week. What did you do that entire week?"

Hongjoong paused at that, and his grip on Briar's hair loosened slightly.

"Well?" Seonghwa asked after getting no answer.

Hongjoong paused for a few moments. "I searched and searched, even when police told me not to go into the woods. I couldn't sleep until they found your body..."

"Exactly. And that's what you're doing to all these people. Especially when you know what it's like to have a missing family member." Seonghwa said in a disappointing tone.

"I'm sorry, Seonghwa. This was never meant to be. I was only protecting our families and ourselves. I wanted to make sure that you're safe and loved."

"Safe and loved? You have been killing our brothers all night and you find nothing wrong with that?" Seonghwa huffed softly, pressing his lips together and looking worried.

Hongjoong took a deep breath, glancing over at his husband and smiling softly. "My dear. I'm sorry. But I just can't stop. I've been in too deep this entire time. After tonight I'll stop. But we can't just leave Briar alive. She's seen and knows too much."

Seonghwa sighed softly but didn't say anything. "I don't understand. She's your niece. Why are you trying to hurt her? She loves you. So so much. You were her favorite uncle."

"That doesn't matter. She doesn't deserve to live. She was the daughter that should have died. Why on earth do you think she should have lived?"

Seonghwa was floored, staring at his husband and lover. "Why the hell would you say that? Do you not remember everything Logan went through? To make sure that Briar would live and have a good family?"

"I know that. But she still didn't deserve to live. She was an accident either way."

"No, she wasn't." A quiet voice joined the others, making Briar look around in surprise.