THE DARKEST HOPE

Chapter 3

THE DARKEST HOPE
❧ Chapter 3 ❧

The friendly morning sun danced playfully on Jungkook's cheek and pillow. The boy opened his eyes, surprised at firs to find himself in the unfamiliar yet cozy room. He rose on his elbows and looked around. Bright light entered through the wide windows and made the the white walls glisten with gold. The wooden floor and furniture added a warm, pleasing feeling. Jungkook smiled, amused and glad that the whole thing from last night wasn't a dream. His smile grew even bigger. He got up from the bed and started to roam through the several drawers of the cabinet across the room. In the lowest drawer there were clean sheets and towels, several t-shirts, pants and sweaters in the middle and clean underwear and socks in the top drawer. He opened the wardrobe only to find some more clothes and a pair of sneakers that looked his size.

"Whoa, great!" he thought and he quickly dressed himself. As he was tying the laces of the shoes his stomach growled. "Hungry, again" he sighed "wonder if there is more food downstairs", he smirked and hesitantly walked towards the door.

Jungkook stepped down the stairs, looking around, amazed by the huge entrance hall of the manor. The fireplace wasn't burning anymore and at first the place seemed empty. Then he saw him, the man from last night, sitting quietly in a corner chair, watching him narrowly, a tiny smile on his lips.

Jimin was a bit startled at first when he saw Jungkook walk down the stairs. Not that he forgot about the new inhabitant of the house, he was amazed to find out that the boy was even more handsome in the bright light of the day. He looked tall and gracious; every movement he made seemed somehow catlike. His dark hair looked sparkly and soft, and the petty, sparkly eyes looked even warmer due to the charming shy smile on his face. For some moments Jimin stared at him almost paralyzed, smiling back without even realizing it.

"Hi there," Jungkook broke the silence and put him out of his trance.

"Good morning", Jimin answered, almost angry at himself by his unexpected reaction to the other man. "Come, let us have breakfast and some coffee together and I'll explain to you about your job." Jungkook smiled from ear to ear when he heard about breakfast and hurried after Jimin.

"Come, we will eat on the balcony" Jimin said and skillfully assembled a couple of sandwiches, then poured a generous amount of coffee in two large mugs. They seated themselves on the comfortable balcony table and for some time stayed quiet, each one of them occupied with his food and his own thoughts.

Jungkook felt so happy, almost light as air. The garden outside the house looked beautiful in the light of the day. Although somewhat abandoned and poorly groomed, the old, bushy trees, the soft, thick grass and the various colorful flowers made a fascinating picture. The wind roamed through the leaves of the plants, making them whisper quietly and calmly. Their sound mixed with the low buzz of the numerous insects living amongst the greenery and made a distant calm noise. The air was cool and gently bruised Jungkook's skin.

"I really like it here" the boy thought and his gaze moved from the garden to the man, sitting next to him. Jimin's expression was calm but somewhat distant as he was staring intensely at his coffee. A thin line was formed between his eyebrows as if he was thinking over some complicated task. The expression was serious and a little sad as his small, soft hands traced circular patterns against the edge of the mug. His whole posture gave away the man was lost in moody and disturbing thoughts. "What could worry such a man" Jungkook thought "he seems to have everything. God, I hope he lets me stay here, I really want to...".

For a moment Jimin was lost inside his mind, tortured by thousand questions and doubts at the moment. That boy he took last night, it was a wrong thing to do. He just needed some fresh material, some new addition to his experiment. Until now he received a steady supply of people, but most of them were already ill, old or dying and didn't do much good to the results. His study of the vampire virus was going nowhere. For several years now he was trying to find a cure of some kind but his efforts always hit dead end. At first he tried to apply the virus to animals but it grew differently in animals and after a year or so struggling there he had to admit he was going nowhere. At one moment it seemed that his entire work will be going down the drain but then the idea of using people for the survey came. At that point the idea seemed brilliant. He convinced himself that there is no other way not only for the science but for the future of the entire human race. His growing disappointment from his lack of result was replaced by fresh enthusiasm and will to work and since the government showed its approval both by signing a decree, allowing him to legally conduct his human experiments and giving him enough funding for the matter, his conscience was calm for the time being. It was decided that he will receive a fresh supply of subjects for the experiments from the ones already infected by the virus or the ones with death sentences and his experiments on the way towards developing the cure were renewed. The basements of the manor were transformed into a bigger, heavily secured laboratory and holding cells, called it shortly the dungeon because of its darkly purpose. His childhood friend Suga, currently one of the notorious vampire hunters in town agreed to help him eagerly and at the time it seemed that they were mere moments away from saving humanity.