empyrean | pjm (wattys2017)

0.42

With a heart as heavy as a hill, eyes as dry and red as burning coal, mouth as dry as a desert, I let them walk me to the sacrificial stone at the middle of the shrine. Torches burnt bright against the ancient stone walls. All the towns people stormed in to watch the ritual, my parents nowhere to be seen.

I stood frozen, eyes looking for the one. With a little tug on my arm, I obliged by laying down on the stone. My heart was pumping out too much blood and even though my arms and legs struggled to stay still, I felt dead and lifeless.

With eyes staring up at the roof, I let them perform the ritual without interruption.

'It's too late Jimin. Too late to save.'

I hated the fact that I needed saving and wasn't strong enough to save myself.

In the blanket of noise produced by the thick crowd, the loudest one was the shutting of temple doors and metal locks clamping, which snapped me out of my thoughts.

I was now left alone on a stone as brown as the earth, rusted iron chains holding me down, in a torch lit room with a ceiling as high as the sky. In that moment the quiet had become like icy drips onto already cold skin. There was absolutely no sound, the only movement being the flickering of fire which lit the torches hanging onto the walls, for dear life.

The temple was now deserted, a point of no return. A diffuse bluish light seeped through the creeks on the walls, casually falling onto the pillars surrounding the stone I was tied down to.

I tried to fool my brain into thinking this was a dream, but no. As minutes turned to hours, I realised that this was not a world of fantasy, everything I could see around me was so real, so material, so substantial and yet so impenetrable. The atmosphere was now becoming dense and heavy, I had to close my eyes shut. If this is how I'd die, then it better be quick.

Hours passed by and I laid there, exposed and vulnerable.  Thoughts of my mother and the way her hands felt, wrapped around my body, in a warm, safe hug were the first ones to invade my head. I blinked a few times to drain away the tears that threatened to fall. The memory of my lips pressing against Jimin's one last time, the owner gran patting my back proudly, Cheonsa tugging at my arm everytime she needed some sort of help, May offering chocolates and gifts every few days had me tear up beyond control until I was letting out all the pent up pain and frustration in the form of tears, tugging and struggling against the chains which only dug into my skin to inflict more pain, but no relief.

Hours passed by and I was reduced to someone with absolutely no hope. I stared at the torch lit on the wall by my side.  A gasp escaped my lips when it suddenly went off. There were no windows or openings to the room. The way the fire was put off in a matter of seconds, in the absence of wind, without any flickering had me panic.

I tugged at the chains once more, before I could process what was happening, the torches went off one after the other,  leaving the room dark and making me blind to everything around me.

"No! " the word which was meant to be a scream only came out as a mere plea, as the sacrificial stone which was laid horizontally tilted up and up on its own until it stood vertical, as if I was standing with my back against a wall.

As the gravity tugged me down, the sharp edges of the metal pierced into my skin to draw blood. Shallow breaths escaped my lips as a small flames appeared, floating in the air before me at a distance. It was the only thing I could see in the dark.

The flame soon transformed into something else. The sound of air splitting as the fire got bigger and bigger, taking the shape of a blood curdling creature, filled my ears.

It all happened in a matter of seconds. There was no slow appearance. There was no breaking of bones, there was no movement of flesh. It was all in a moment split into two.

My heart was barely beating as I watched the monster in front of me in mingled horror and anticipation.

He stood tall and proud, head almost touching the ceiling. Two horns sharp and curved like a sickle. Limbs long and muscular, chest broad, all covered with a layer of fire, burning bright and red, which he wore as if it was skin. Nails sharper than the finest of blades dripped with blood, showing off all the wars he had won. His eyes were two balls of red fire, darker yet brighter than the sun. In his jaws were inch long teeth, serrated like a steak knife.

His gaze shifted to mine and I could only stand there, welcoming death with open arms. It took him a single step to approach me until his burning face was inches away from mine. I squirmed, a dry cry leaving my lips at the unbearable heat.

I closed my eyes shut, hands in fists, tightly gritted teeth, waiting for the impact; to be torn apart or burnt into a crisp at once, but nothing came. A cold breeze brushed against my skin, making me shiver in the process, heart so close to a stop .

I let my eye lids move apart, only to find that the torches were lit once again and the creature, was no longer there. I could sigh in relief, but I noticed a man, standing slim yet muscular, with an animal beside him, all in my field of vision.

The yellow light was barely even incident on him as he took a step forward, into the circle drawn around the sacrificial stone, which was now upright.

I shivered once more, a chill traveling down my spine. The monster seemed to have taken a human form.

"Please kill me" I pleaded. 

A laugh so beautiful bounced off the walls making my toes curl and goosebumps rise.

The animal beside him was the first one to step into the light. It was a three headed dog, skin as black as the night itself. It's teeth, eerily incandescent, emitted a strange blue glow and were as sharp as a fine diamond sword. On its torso and face were recent scabs from a meal that had fought back.  Claws were blood caked and for such a large beast it moved with surprising stealth, leaving behind only a trail of wet blood and its heinous odour.

As the dog circled me, I could only gulp in fear, mentally begging for a painless death.

The man who stood in the shadows stepped forth making a sharp gasp tear through me. I pulled against the chains at the sight.

His silver hair which was parted and brushed off his forehead, shined under the moonlight that seeped through, skin as white as milk, distinct cheek bones and an angular jaw, all so inferior to those bright blue eyes that looked back at mine.
His black suit was decorated with strands of silver,  a work so artistic, it definitely wasn't man made.

"Ji-" I choked and he smirked.

It wasn't the smile I was used to. His eyes did not turn into crescents. The curve of his lips was pure evil, which had tears well up in my eyes. If this is who I would lose my life to, then I'd gladly offer it, now that I knew what he really was.

A three headed dog, clothes as dark as space and hair a beautiful silver. Park Jimin was the God of the dead. The king of the Underworld, the rich one and the silent one. The one who the demons and the dead feared the most. The one who had death dancing at the tips of his fingers. It was him.

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Tell me what you think? I HAD to do a double update. Couldn't keep this chapter to myself <3