Fear {Taeil // NCT au}

six

Tamsin and Taeil had been friends for almost a year. They got introduced to each other when Yuta moved in with him and Sicheng and they had hung out many times since. Although they had never met up alone, they had often spend one on one time together at parties and other social gatherings. Besides their shyness when they first met, talking to each other had never been an issue, until now. You could almost cut the tension with a knife. Neither Tamsin nor Taeil uttered a single word as they walked along the eerie hallways.

But why wasn't he saying anything? Was it really that bad to be partnered up with her? It made no sense to Tamsin. They were friends, why did it suddenly feel so awkward between them?

Her thoughts were interrupted by an unexpected presence in the hallway. The air turned cold, making the hairs on Tamsin's arms stand up. She froze, paralyzed in fear as the heavy weight of a hand settled on her shoulder. She sucked in a breath at the same time as Taeil yelped. Both of them stared ahead as a skeleton-like ghost materialized from the floor in front of them. 

Taeil's shout was enough for Tamsin to get herself together. As the ghost slithered across the floor towards them, she moved backwards, hitting the wall. Before she could turn and run, something else grabbed her, holding her captive.

"Tamsin!" Taeil called out, a sinking feeling of panic sweeping over him as he watched her struggle against the ghost that had attacked through the wall.

The other ghost was still closing in on him, but he was less concerned about that than about abandoning Tamsin. Not sure how to fight a ghost, he hoped he could grab it the same way it was holding onto his friend. Without giving it another thought, he placed his hands on the ghosts' wrists, closing his fingers around them. It seemed to work, but relief was only temporary. Pulling with all his strength, it was clear the ghost wasn't going to give up easily.

"Fuck!" He cursed under his breath.

Looking over his shoulder at the other ghost that was still writhing its way towards them, Taeil knew he was running out of time, and had to act fast. Clenching his jaw together, he tried even harder to save Tamsin, now focusing on just one arm.

Struggling to break free, Tamsin jerked her right shoulder forward, hoping it would help. As her plan failed, she suddenly remembered the scalpel she had taken from the surgery room. Not able to fully move her arms by how she was pinned down, her fingers tried to find the small pouch hanging from her belt.

"Taeil, my pouch!" Tamsin exclaimed when she couldn't reach it herself. "It has a scalpel inside."

Not questioning why she had one or where she'd gotten it, Taeil let go of the ghost and clutched the small bag instead, struggling to open it. From the corner of his eye, he saw that the ghost on the floor was dangerously close to him, making him feel a surge of fear as he realized their time was almost up. The moment he pulled out the scalpel, he was pulled backwards by his ankle, resulting in him dropping the small silver weapon.

"Taeil!" Tamsin shouted, eyes wide as she watched the ghost hauling at the red haired boy, trying to drag him away from her.

Bending over, Taeil struggled to pick up the scalpel as he fought against the force pulling at his leg. He scrambled to his feet, using Tamsin's body to steady himself before he swung his arm backwards and forcefully pierced the ghost's arm with the sharp object in his hand. The ghost let out a deafening shriek at the contact, before disappearing back through the wall. The other ghost let go of Taeil's ankle seconds later, vanishing into thin air.

Tamsin breathed out a deep sigh before sliding down onto the floor, pulling her knees to her chest. Bringing her head down, she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to stop the tears that threatened to fall.