pastel [3]

forty

Third Person point of view

There was nowhere to go, Taehyung had no idea where he was, running until he physically couldn't and collapsing again. He was no longer able to cage his reckless sobs and pleads for someone to take away the chaos that was going to drown his mind all over again. He begged into the empty street for the gods to save him, for them to bring back the one who had always been able to balance him out. Without Daehyun he was weightless, and the containment that had been held on his sanity was ripped away.

Left drained from every muscle in his body fighting the sadistic urges, Taehyung fell into another abhorrent flash of nightmare fuel, a recurrent routine of twisted torture.

-

Tight cuffs seared through the fractal nerves spread beneath his skin, tearing him from his haze to search the place where everything felt still and eerily empty. When he opened his eyes there was nothing, a dark room that held him in the centre, chained down by golden links that tightened with each of his jolts to free himself. It was futile; a prison created by his own creator.

Her voice pierced through his mind, tearing him from the labile headspace that had brought everything to a crashing reality. Venus spoke to him with a discontentment that felt like being buried alive. If Taehyung could see her face, the goddess would be seething with embarrassment; what a failure. All she did was speak from afar, enlightening his mind of the actions that had taken place during his blackout.

"Daehyunie..." croaked Taehyung with an aching realisation, body falling into his shackles with a deep scream of anguish. "No... please no," he choked, head shaking with a vigorous attempt at denial. "Bring him back!" He shrieked into the void, speaking to that voice that had caged his temper. "Please! Please listen to me!" He begged with a cowardly sob, feeling each breath of his own body leave with no way to return. "I can't be alone... I'm not! I can't! You have to bring him back! I need him!"

There was nothing, and yet he screamed until it hurt to breathe, succumbing to his imprisonment until the gods would decide his punishment for the murder of his brother. They would discuss how to contain Venus' defective son, the boy who couldn't even love his own brother without filthy desire. Up until now the brotherly feud was entertainment for them, watching the two of them tear eachother apart then put eachother back together. It was the most interesting love story they'd seen on human earth.

There was no human left to feel, an empty shell of someone who would be sentenced to a life on the streets, forced to reconcile with the soul of the person who'd torn him apart.

Two halves of a broken whole, destined to relive their pain in an endless cycle. This time was supposed to be different. Things were supposed to be better, Taehyung was supposed to live a normal life, be a human again. Why? Why couldn't he have that?

Taehyung woke up crying, curled up on the concrete with the necklace held tight within his palms as he prayed to his mother to take it all away. Just like every other time, she didn't answer, leaving him to fall even further. Why did she let him break over and over again?

A numbness washed over him, eyes glazing over and mind switching off from the rational pleading. He wandered down the street until a new set of shops took up his right side, stopping outside a phone booth built into the walk way. He took the phone and punched in a memorised number, unnoticed tears spilling from his eyes as he listened to the dialling tone.

"Hello?" Spoke the enchanting voice on the other end, grounding him momentarily to fall against the glass box. "Tae is that you?" Called Jungkook, his body tensing under the silence on the other end of the phone as he streamed down the highway.

"Why won't you help me?" Cried Taehyung into the receiver, voice trembling with despair. Jungkook took in the way he sounded, shadowed by a momentary rush of relief to know that Taehyung was alive.

"I'm coming Taehyung. I just need to get to you. I'll be with you soon just please hold on a little longer."

"P- please hurry. I... I hurt someone." Taehyung was a sobbing mess, as he muttered those words. Jungkooks heart shattering to pieces.

"Taehyung, just find somewhere to hide. And tell me where that is. I'll come get you. I'll keep you safe." The blonde boy's frantic sobs blared through the speakers of his car, ears pierced by the sheer amount of pain that could be felt. "One more hour. Please Tae..."

"I can't... I can't do it, I'm drowning, Kook. I feel like I'm drowning."

"You're not. You're breathing, you're alive,  you're going to be okay. I saw what happened, I know where you are. But please you need to stay where you are so I can find you. Stay near the phone so if you need to call me you can." Each of his words were sharp and rushed, trying to get every aching thought out before Taehyung lost the connection.

"Stay?" He nodded frantically despite his actions being unseen.

"Yes! Yes stay. I promise. Promise I'll –" his words cut off when the sight of someone standing on the centre of the road sent him slamming on the breaks and skidding to a stop just metres from the idiotic person blocking the road. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!" He screamed through the windshield, throat constricting when the figure turned towards him with a twisted grin. "No!"

Every muscle in his body went rigid, throat held paralysed as the figure stepped toward his car. He managed one last word before the paralysis took over entirely, "Help..." Just loud enough for Taehyung to hear. Then a foot was pummelled through his windscreen and Jungkook came face-to-face with someone he wished to never see again.

"I'm not done with you."

____________________________