HER BELOVED

6

For the past week, Jin had hardly stayed at home. When he told Nao he would be busy, she didn't expect him to be this busy. "Jin?" her whisper was full of hope, the feeling of someone watching her made her hair stand on end and icy chills ran through her, digging claws into her soul. Nao pulled the blanket back and hugged it tightly to her chest, squinting her eyes, trying to make out something in the darkness. "Jin, it's not funny, you're scaring me!" she almost squealed in a whisper and crawled to the headboard of the bed. "Pooh, honey, come to mommy?" she called the kitten, but again there was no answer.

Panic began to overwhelm her, making her breathing quicken and she clutched the covers to her chest even tighter. "Jin? Pooh?" her voice rose slightly, trembling, as if someone was trying to penetrate her head, staring at her forehead. With a trembling hand, Nao reached over and turned on the night light. Squinting against the light for a moment, she tried to catch some sign that she wasn't alone in the room, and when she opened them again, a terrifying scream was all that could be heard. High, shrill, desperate and followed by a never-ending spiral of new screams as she unconsciously tried to get away from the sight, climbing the headboard and the bed.

Jungkook was laying on the couch in the living room playing a game on his phone when he heard Nao's screams. Today it was his turn to stay with her and Jin hadn't come home yet but he was sure she was asleep. "What..." he jumped up and ran up the stairs, swinging her bedroom door open. "Holy shit!" he froze, surveying the scene. A thin rope hung over the lower end of the bed, Pooh's dead body was tied to the end, spinning over a pool of his own blood. His belly was distended and his insides were hanging like a rope.

Jungkook almost skipped the distance to the bed and wrapped Nao in the covers, making sure to cover her eyes as well and quickly carried her out, bringing her down to the living room. He placed her trembling body on one end of the sofa, sat down next to her and gave her a gentle half hug, dialing Seokjin's number. "Hello?" Jin answered almost immediately, but immediately hung up when he heard Nao's incessant screams of terror. Jungkook dialed Namjoon as well. "Hyung, come to Nao, now!" was all he said before he hung up this time.

Jungkook tossed his phone aside and hugged Nao tightly to his chest, stroking her back soothingly. "Shhh, it's over, it's over, calm down, I'm here" his soft voice didn't seem to get through her incessant screams, no matter how much he tried to calm her down. Her body kept shaking and soon her teeth started chattering as well. "Nao, Nao, look at me!" he commanded and cupped her face forcing her to look at him. Gritting his teeth, he took a deep breath and fixed her gaze. "Breathe Nao!" the ragged wheezing waves emanating from her lungs grew heavier and she struggled to breathe.

"For God's sake, breathe Nao!" her face took on a deathly pale expression and her screams just didn't stop, gathering the guards inside as well. "Check upstairs and don't touch anything!" Jungkook ordered coldly, pressing Nao already in his lap, hiding her from the guards' prying eyes with the blankets. "Back to work, idiots!" he roared and looked down at the hysterical Nao, who was struggling for air like a drowning man.

"Breathe, Nao, Jin hyung is coming, Namjoon too, it's going to be alright" he started rocking her like a little child looking nervously at the clock on the opposite wall "Come on hyung, I have no idea what to do with her" he thought, but he just couldn't think of anything that could help in this case. He had never been in a situation like this before and now he felt like a chicken in a quagmire. Nao's labored breathing forced her to stop screaming, but the shaking of her body was almost uncontrollable, Jungkook decided it might be a good idea to call Dr. Sang as well. His eyes were fixed on Nao's horrified face as he tried to feel where he had dropped his phone.

Jungkook felt like hours had passed when Namjoon flew into the house and the first thing he noticed was Nao on Jungkook's lap. "Upstairs in the bedroom" he nodded and Namjoon walked upstairs, making sure Jungkook wouldn't let his sister go. "Jin?" Nao continued to struggle for breath, Jungkook had never felt so helpless, seeing the fear and desperation in her eyes. "Try to calm your breathing, hyung is coming" he mumbled and she began to sniffle, sobbing. "Pooh?" he shook his head and her tears formed a waterfall that began to soak into the covers.