drafts //

𝙻𝙴𝚃 𝙾𝚄𝚃 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙱𝙴𝙰𝚂𝚃

DAESU WEREWOLF AU
LET OUT THE BEAST - EXO

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈

Gasping awake, cold, chilled air filled his lungs. He bolted upright, feeling the back of shirt cling to his icy skin with damp dew. Pale moonlight engulfed his vision, wisps of mist rolling and coiling around him. Tombstones stuck up through the mist like spikes, the silhouettes dark. Crickets chirped nearby, an owl screeching somewhere amongst the trees, leaves rustled in the grand pine trees surrounding him.

He turned, mouth agape. Heavy breaths escaped his lips in hurried and ragged pants, his heart racing with anxiety. His skin was crawling, his eyes blown wide in fear. His gaze settled upon the gravestone beside him, the wet mound of dirt beneath him. He gasped loudly, scrambling ungracefully to his feet. He staggered once upright, spinning around as he took in his surroundings.

Trees, graves, mist, moonlight, a desolate playground, a dirt road—he was in the middle of the forest graveyard. A lone dirt road stretched on from the edge of a normal street at the edge of town lead to this hidden cemetery. Beside it, outside the gates, play equipment that no children ever used. Surrounding this isolated place were trees, thick with foliage. The trees loomed over the edges of the fence of the cemetery, thin branches looking like jagged fingers reaching out to the single soul standing in the graveyard in the darkness of night.

Two streetlights stood by the gate of the cemetery, giving light to the exit. The gate was always open as it faced the road. The playground lay just outside the gate, at the edge of the road.

He turned, making a dash for the gate. His bare feet were cold and numb as they thudded against the grass, now the only sound echoing throughout the seemingly empty forest. He bolted past the open gates, the black iron dripping with dew.

He faltered when his feet met with the rough and ragged rubble of the dirt road. The small rocks and stones stabbed into the soles of his feet, eliciting a small yelp of pain from his throat. He began to tread slowly, lightly, trying to avoid the big stones and gravel.

He sighed deeply, treading along the road at a rather slow pace. The moon sat high in the sky bathing him in its silver light. He looked up, craning his neck. Grey clouds crept along the black of the sky, concealing twinkling stars and the light of the moon. Once the cloud hid the moon, he was drenched in bitter and cold darkness.

A shudder tore through his body, and he involuntarily hugged himself. He was cold, and he wanted to be back in his bed, safe and warm.

He couldn't tell how much time had past, but the moon now sat lower in the sky, and the wind around him began to whistle past him. He shivered, trying to speed up his pace. His feet hurt, and his eyes were droopy, despite the adrenaline racing through his veins.

The stretch of the dirt road from the edge of the forest to the graveyard was at least a seven kilometre walk, and that would take at least an hour or so to walk at a brisk pace.

A twig snapped in the dark forest beside him causing him to freeze solid. The hairs on his arms and the back of his neck rose, goosebumps prickling across his flesh. The unsettling feeling of being watched blanketed him like a layer of snow, drenching him in panic.

He turned his head to where the sound had come from, and as he was about to look away, leaves rustled, sounding like heavy footfalls in leaves. He didn't waste time in waiting for whatever what was watching him to emerge as he bolted. He ignored the pain in his feet as he ran, arms thumping against his sides. Heart racing in panic, his breath escaped his lungs in tight wheezes.

The end of the dirt road and the edge of town came into view, streetlights lining the tar road. He heaved a heavy sigh of relief, emerging from the forest. His feet pounded against the hard tar, and he slowed to a pained walk.

He limped to his house just down the road, grasping his cold doorknob in his clammy hands, twisting it. It opened, much to his surprise and delight. He never used to leave it unlocked, so having it open now was a blessing.

He stumbled inside, slamming the door shut behind him. He shuffled across his small house into his bedroom, flopping onto the soft unmade bed with a loud "oof". His body was enveloped in a tender warmth as he wrapped his duvet around himself.

Moonlight rained in through the open window, shining over his immobile body. His eyelids drooped, drowsiness weighing down his eyelids. He did not want to fall asleep though, he did not want to wake up not in his bed again.

Heaving a sigh, he looked up through his long black eyelashes, staring out the window at the moon that crawled out from behind grey clouds. The sky began to dust in pinks and oranges, dawn rapidly approaching. He stifled a yawn, curling up into a ball.