CREEPY-CRAWLIES ; yugbam

the boys

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feng suave; sink into the floor

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bambam trudged up the stairs, struggling under the weight of the box in his arms. he could hear ms. yang humming as she took the bread out the oven down in the kitchen and couldn't help wondering where the other boys must be. all their doors were closed; maybe they didn't socialize much.

he dropped the box down in his room, gazing around the darkening walls. he flipped on the light switch and shut the door as quietly as he could despite the creaking. he unpacked the things in his suitcase first; some clothes he hung in the closet, his best spellbook and wand (which he hid under the bed because of the pain looking at them brought him), a picture of him and his mom laughing at a picnic at the park, the only picture of his father he owned (a polaroid his mother took. the man was softly smiling as he gazed ahead at something in the distance, locks of silver hair falling over his shoulders and bright eyes glinting in the sun), and his charms and incense, which he decided not to hide like his spellbooks because they were direct connections to cybele and if he wanted her help to see his mom, he needed to respect them.

next was his box. he unpacked more clothes, more spellbooks (under the bed they went), his mini cauldron (also under the bed), his carved wooden statue of cybele, the woven blanket a friend of his mother had made for him, toiletries, and other assorted treasures. he glanced at his mom's box uncertaintly before pushing it into the closet and shutting the door.

night had just fallen as bambam settled himself on the floor to look through the things he had left to sort through. he glared at the spellbooks and cauldron under the bed as he stirred through his small boxes and jars of herbs and plants. he turned his head to stare at his hands as he tried to make up his mind about something. finally, he decided a small spell wouldn't hurt too much and he muttered the words to a emotional-correcting charm under his breath. the charm was meant to calm and clear the mind, sometimes used before a witch cast a difficult spell and mostly in wiccan healing. instantly, bambam felt a numbness sweep over his mind, and he sighed. finally, he could focus without thinking about what had happened.

he continued sorting through the herbs when he heard a soft knock on his door. "come in", he called in a raspy voice. he had been expecting the familiar face of ms. yang, but someone new stuck his head in unsurely. bambam immediately straightened and cleared his throat, trying to look presentable even with his hands in a jar of wolfsbane and a hamburger wrapper on the ground by his side.

"hey", the new boy said, stepping in completely. his limbs were long and skinny, his skin an almost sick-looking pale. a mop of black hair fell over his forehead and his irises were dark black. he would have been nearly handsome if it wasn't for the blank, staring look on his face, completely devoid of emotion. "you're bambam, right?"

bambam nodded, taking his hands out of the wolfsbane. the boy smiled but it was emotionless. "ms. yang said you didn't talk but since you told me to come in, i'm guessing you're just quiet."

"yeah", bambam replied. the boy laughed heartlessly as if that's what he had expected.

"anyways, breakfast is ready. unless, you're a day-walker then i guess it's dinner."

oh, so that's why the house was so quiet, bambam thought. the rest of the boys must be night-crawlers, monsters who slept during day because daylight was dangerous to them. most night-crawlers had enchanted jewelry or other artifacts that allowed them to live safely in the day. bambam wondered why they didn't. maybe they chose to.

"okay", bambam replied. the boy furrowed his brows and it was the most expression bambam had seen in his face so far.

"why do you talk so little?", he asked. bambam shrugged and stood up, turning to set the wolfsbane on the desk so the boy wouldn't see the pain in his face.

"let's go", bambam mumbled and the boy led him down the stairs. bambam watched the boy's movements; they were slightly unbalanced and slow, almost like he would stumble at any moment, but it wasn't noticeable unless you were really looking for it. bambam started to have an idea of what kind of hybrid the boy was.

the boy sat at the table with the others, the same heartless smile on his lips as he spoke in a nearly monotone voice. the other boys didn't seem to pay any mind to it. ms. yang gestured to an empty seat and bambam sat awkwardly, staring at his empty plate. ms. yang set the bread down and the meal turned to chaos as boys reached over each other for bread and butter and fought over spreading knives. bambam watched from his silent corner.

"bambam, aren't you going to eat?", ms. yang asked with worry on her wrinkled old features. bambam smiled reassuringly, though it felt painful and fake on his lips.

"i already ate. thank you, ms. yang."

a boy with wild, curly hair snorted. "ms. yang", he repeated under his breath as if it was funny to hear the words. bambam glanced down, embarrassed.

ms. yang smacked the boy across the head with a wooden spoon lightly. "be kind."

"sorry", the curly-haired boy apologized. bambam shrugged and stared at the linoleum floor.

"everyone introduce yourselves", ms. yang instructed. a boy with sun bleached blond hair bounced in his chair excitedly. horns poked out from under his slight curls and his eyes flashed red.

"i'm sanha and i'm a demon hybrid!", he said enthusiastically. bambam had never heard anyone say that enthusiastically. a hint of mischief glinted in the boy's eyes.

"i'm minghao", another said. he had dark hair that almost fell over his eyes and glinting fanged canines paired with a pale complexion and bambam knew he was a vampire hybrid without him having to say so.

"chris", curly-haired boy introduced curtly. he stared at bambam with bright silver eyes that were the same shade as bambam's own. maybe he was the witch to whom the tarot cards belonged. "werewolf", chris continued and bambam felt disappointment and relief wash over him.

"ignore chris, he's just in a bad mood because it's almost no moon and he hates not having his powers", sahna assured bambam, earning himself a threatening growl and a baring of teeth that were barely sharper than a normal human's.

"i'm hyunjin", the boy on bambam's other side introduced. he dashingly handsome, his perfectly shaped body cradled in a oversized white sweater. his smile was too perfect, like the boy didn't even have to try, and it didn't match his shy personality at all. "fairy hybrid."

of course. fae were perfectly beautiful but quite timid.

"and i'm yugyeom", the boy who had taken bambam down to dinner/breakfast introduced. once again, that emotionless smile pierced bambam's skin. "i'm a zombie hybrid."

bambam had guessed correctly.

zombie hybrids and pure zombies themselves were nothing like they were depicted in the movies. instead of festering, smelling flesh, they looked like normal humans, the only exception being their eyes and sickly pale skin. zombie hybrids eyes looked normal until they used their powers, then everyone could see the blood-shot whites and silver irises. they were also abnormally strong, to make up for their sluggishness and imbalance. the reason zombies were so hated was not because of those reasons though. it was the fact that they ate human flesh.

like vampires could drink animal blood, zombies could survive on animal meat, but it dulled their powers, so there were organizations set up where you could donate your body after you died to be sold to zombies, just as people held blood drives to sell to vampires. but the idea of getting their body eaten after death didn't settle well with most people, so zombies were among the most hated monsters.

bambam found himself eyeing yugyeom's plate. a hunk of raw meat sat there, but it didn't look human. you never know, bambam thought, his stomach churning.

"we're glad to have you here, bambam", ms. yang said and set a plate piled with eggs on the table.

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(1412 words)