Ablaze (Are The Hearts of The Damned)

A Choice to Make

Kyungsoo groans, head throbbing ever so painfully. Squinting to the light of the sun shining at him from the curtain-drawn windows, the fire spirit pushes himself up. He is disoriented, having a blurred sense of how he got into the painting room and why he woke up on the floor like some drunkard after a night of downing alcohol.

"Why am I even here?" he groans, palming the walls as he stands up. Kyungsoo feels a bit dizzy too and his eyes had trouble focusing, so he stays still for a moment to try and get a bearing of what was happening.

Once he could see a bit better, Kyungsoo's eyes find their way on the fallen stool just a few feet in front of him. Lifting his eyes up a bit, he finally takes notice of a canvas. It bore a strange painting - it is obviously a portrait, but the middle part of the canvas is marred (if it was artistically, he had no idea) with a round black mass that had singed paper edges, as if something on fire shot out of the portrait.

"What on earth..." Kyungsoo utters as he reaches out to touch the painting. When his fingers make contact, he feels nothing but the soft, coarse texture of the canvas.

"Oh..." Kyungsoo lets out a deep breath that he's been holding unconsciously. "I thought it might burn my fingers or something..."

KYUNGSOO!

The fire spirit lets out a yelp as he cups both sides of his head.

"Oh for gods' sake, Kai!" Kyungsoo wails. "You made my brain ache!"

I'm trapped in our room! Did you lock the door?!

"Oh gods, Kai," Kyungsoo groans. "I have no idea..."

What do you mean?

"I just woke up in the painting room," Kyungsoo says as he stumbles towards the door. "I do not know how I got here. I have a vague memory about leaving our room last night and coming here to paint some... Kai?

The buzzing of their connection has suddenly come into an abrupt silent stop. Kyungsoo's eyes widen as he faces the door and freezes there, trying to search for that familiar buzz once more.

Kai?

A knock comes from the door.

"Hello? Kyungsoo? Are you in there?"

Kyungsoo blinks. It is Baekhyun's voice.

"Yes, I-I am here..."

But why does he feel like something is not right?

"Can you come out? I cannot find where Kai is."

"Oh..." the fire spirit gulps. "I will be right there..."

Something is telling Kyungsoo to never open the door at any cost, because that the person at the opposite side of the door is not Baekhyun. But there is a force compelling him like he is a puppet, making him reach out for the door despite the sirens wailing their warnings in his mind.

With a twist of his wrist and the click of the knob, the door opens.

"Oh, Kyungsoo!"

It is definitely Baekhyun, gazing at him with startled gray eyes as he rakes them down from his head to his toes, taking in his wrecked appearance. "What happened to you?"

"I woke up at the wrong side of the bed..." Kyungsoo slurs as he suddenly feels dazed again. He squints his eyes, his view of Baekhyun starting to look kind of weird. "Now I feel dizzy again..."

"Oh poor you..."

Kyungsoo's blood runs cold.

That is not Baekhyun's voice.