chapter two, retrace. OCTOBER TWENTY-THIRD, TWO THOUSAND SIXTEEN; ( park jimin's murder )
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his mind wandered, a nauseous sensation burying itself deep into the void of his empty stomach. he tripped over his own two feet, attempting to walk forward but failing miserably. he looked like a fool as he fell to all fours, loosing his balance in a way that left light scratches on his knees. the wind blew his hair back, showing his bruised eye to the nature surrounding him. how he ended up like this still was unknown to him, how he was going to recover wasn't even questioned.
with a clear vision or not, he knew he was a stranger to the ground he currently crawled on. his hands covered in not only his own blood, but now the mud that his palms had found their way into gave him no significant hint, nor did the tall grass around him. he whimpered with his mouth shut as a sharp pain shot through his entire body, almost leaving him incapable of keeping upright. his bottom lip caught itself between his teeth, a hand raising from the ground to cover his stomach that was grinding into nothing. his breathing became unsteady, no longer in sync with the way the grass danced high above him.
for once in his life, he was completely and utterly scared. alone, cold, in pain for reasons unknown; he didn't know whether he was asleep or not. the new medication was supposed to help with the nightmares, not make them more realistic. he had been unsure of taking them the entire afternoon of yesterday, but he couldn't remember if he had actually swallowed them this morning. even if he had, this pain was all too real for it to just be a dream.
"one, two, three," a muttered voice echoed, tracing each tip of the green leaves as it made it his way. his eyes peeled open quickly, turning his head to the side but only finding himself feeling sick and dizzy once again, "one, two, three," the voice hushed again, this time from the other side of him. his breathing picked up again, his heart beating roughly against his bones. his hands shook quietly as he tried to find balance on his two feet, but couldn't seem to accomplish this basic function. "retrace the steps and come to me," the riddle left the boy more puzzled than he already was. "over here," a laugh shortly followed, one out of movies he was never too frightened to watch, yet when he heard this one, he became too shaky to even step forward.
"one, two, three," jimin's eyes began to water, not helping with the already distorted sight. he couldn't help but feel everything all at once. the pain, the agony, the fear, the nausea, the helplessness. he wanted to fall to his knees, scream and beg, pinch himself until he woke from this deep slumber, but instead he stood still, scared of playing this sick game of mouse trap. "one, two, three, retrace the steps and come to me," the deep singing left jimin breathless as he tried his best to not make himself a person, a thing anymore. he no longer existed in a moment where existence meant everything to him. "or i'll come to you, play this game of two, watch God rule over someone who only ever drools," his chin became indented as he tried to hold in his sobs forming within him. "one, two, three," a branch snapping behind jimin sounded off, creating the ominous environment worse than it had been for the agonizing minutes he had been standing there.
suddenly, jimin felt heavy breathing down his shoulder, slight pressure pushing against his shoulder blades. "now, what do you see?" everything went black as a cloth bag was put over his head. he struggled to find freedom out of the man's grip, but didn't receive any luck as the back of his head hit something rough and it left him dazed. a tight closure began to form around his throat, his breathing fading slowly as the cells in his body searched frantically for something to feed off of. it wasn't long until he felt absolutely nothing.
"Romans, 10:20," the familiar voice he had heard earlier growled before a loud bang shot through his ear faster than the pain in his arm could rush to trigger his brain of what he had not opened his eyes to see. the man disappeared for only a few seconds before jimin felt his right foot be picked up and crossed over his other leg. "and Isaiah is very bold and says," the voice fades as jimin continued to flutter his eyes open. he's met with a man, hiding behind all black clothes and a plastic, color matching mask. his eyes race, ignoring the fact that he felt lightheaded, and it wasn't long until he realized he was hanging above the tall grass, next to a scarecrow in fact. he shook his head roughly, muttering quiet no's as he tried moving his fingers but failing miserably.
the man walked closer, sliding up the knife he held in his hand. jimin watched as the man's eyes squinted before he began shouting, "i was found by those who did not seek me, i became manifest to those who did not ask for me!" the masked figured launched forward, dragging deep, long cuts into the wrist of his victim. jimin screamed out in pain, muffled crying echoing but never returning to him. the man continued to the other arm, yelling the same nonsense as he slashed open the veins that tried to work, but malfunctioning and bellowing out more suffering for jimin's body to endure. the whimpers no longer left his body numb as he tried to look away from the blood pouring from his wrists.
"Hosea, 12:4," the sadistic stranger continued, jimin barely listening as he tried to cling on for his life, "yes, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed; He wept and sought, His favor, He found Him at Bethel," slowly, the man removed his hood and gripped at his mask. he lifted it up, smirking up at jimin as he stared confused. his mouth began to move, trying to mutter the name even slightly, but not finding any success. his eyes grew heavy with every breath, which was also beginning to fade within time. "and there," the now known figure put his mask back on, watching the boy die as if it was a comedic show he had been waiting months for. he picked up hammer, swung it around a few times before looking back up at his victim as he took his very last breath. "He spoke with us."
