Vampire's Bride

Chapter Twenty

It could've meant nothing, but it meant everything. Even though there was nothing to prove that he was implying what he was, all of us knew.

He's kidding. He can't be serious.

"Your mother was a lovely woman, Y/N. However, instead of raising you the right way, she stuck off and married your father, claiming that it was his child. Now, though, since they're both gone and your only friends have his blood on their hands, there is no other option for you."

He smirked. "Be grateful I'm even giving you this opportunity. You've slept with a vampire and lived in their home for weeks. However," he said, looking me over, "I'm sure even you can come back from that."

My reality was shattering. I needed a break, but I couldn't ask for one.

Dad wasn't dad. Dad was dead. My father was Taemin.

"I don't believe you. That's not possible, I- My mother would never do it with somebody as stuck up and narcissistic as you, Taemin. Even if you somehow are my father, I don't want shit to do with you."

He rolled his eyes like he couldn't believe how stupid I was. "She left her hometown after a vampire attack. She met me, she fell in love, and she turned her back on everything that we stood for."

Only when I swallowed did I notice how fast my heart was beating. Nervous tremors went through my body too quickly for me to tell them apart. I want to stop. I want to stop. Let me breathe.

"Things can be made right, but only if you come with me right now and let these people be destroyed," Taemin said, walking toward me. I pulled backward. "You can't force me to do anything."

Jungkook's gentle hand on my arm was reassuring. He killed dad. He killed dad. He killed dad.

"Y/N, get away from them. When they're gone, you'll be free, and you can join the Onyx Guard." He tried to be hide it, but his voice was oozing with detest. It was an echo of the last time we were all together, but this time, the stakes were higher.

I looked back at them. Jungkook, wearing Jin's sweatshirt. Namjoon and Jin, standing guard in front of Jimin, Taehyung, and Hoseok. Yoongi, examining Taehyung's leg.

All of them were together, tightly knit until they couldn't be separated. Jungkook was offering me a line to them so things could go back to normal, but...

"We don't have time, Y/N. Come on." Taemin's voice was stern.

"Don't," Jungkook whispered softly.

The ceiling creaked, and the room went quiet. Gigantic cracks formed along the already existing hole left by the beam I'd been trapped under, spreading like a spider's web. It was clear that we didn't have much time, as pieces were already loosening.

I didn't have an opportunity to act before Taemin snatched my arm, easily dragging me in the opposite direction of the others. Namjoon stepped forward, but a slab of concrete fell and nearly hit his head. Jin barely managed to pull him out of the way.

If I'm dying, I'm taking you with me, you fucking asshole. "Ah!" I exclaimed, letting my entire body drop. Surprised, he stopped, trying to get me off the ground. My hand reached for the first thing I could find, and almost immediately, I touched a brick.

I grasped it with ease, and gaze brushed across a paralyzed Jungkook's face before ending at Taemin. He looked annoyed, like whatever I was doing was nothing but a bump in the road.

My arm had followed my body when it twisted. I forced my foot upright and below my thigh, pushing my body upwards. Since it was my only way to twist was my knee, I used it without hesitation.

The brick slammed straight into Taemin's jaw, the corner pushing his Adam's apple back into his throat and rupturing the skin.

My knee.

A sickening pop reached my ears, but the pain had to have come beforehand. It was all I knew, tearing through my kneecap like butcher's knife. But the knife came again and again and again, never letting me rest even though only a second had passed.

I screamed, the fire trying to escape in any way it could. Taemin fell and I slipped, but Jungkook launched through the air and grabbed me by my waist. I was in his arms before I could register any of it, out of the ceiling's way and safe.

Although I wasn't.

The next minutes were completely wiped from my memory even as they were happening. Every part of the world was dark and burning, but Jungkook held me through it all.

I looked at him at some point, though I couldn't say when or how. His eyes were filled with tears, his face was covered in sweat, and he kept heaving for air. The tough exterior I knew had fractured, leaving nothing behind but his vulnerable and gentle core.

"Y/N," he said, patting my cheek. "Y/N, listen. I know you can hear me. I know that- that you hate us, okay?"

No, I don't, Jungkook. Dad's corpse flashed before my eyes. I don't hate you. I don't hate you.

"You want to leave, but... if the others survive, they won't stop trying to explain. They won't leave you alone and they won't stop regretting everything they've done to you. Y/N, you have to let us go."

I don't want to let you go. Please.

"I can't..." I whispered. "I can't run, I don't-"

He shook his head. "You can still get away. Teleport to somewhere far away from Korea, find somebody that can make you happy-"

I didn't know if it was sweat or tears. "You're the one that makes me happy."

His throat shifted as he let out a strangled sob. "This... I don't get why this has to be so fucking difficult. I didn't want to feel this way, and not towards you, however..." He swallowed. "I love you, Yang Y/N."

I placed my hand on the back of his head and pressed down, his lips touching mine. They tasted salty, but all I could think about was him. Even though it wasn't what I had expected, I wanted to hear him say those words a thousand times over.

"Maybe I'm selfish or selfless, I don't know, but please make me forget you. Make all of us forget so you can move on. Get help, counseling, whatever you need," he mumbled, eyes shut.

"What do you mean?"

His eyes were as black as ink. "It's a last resort. You can make us forget your face, body... everything. But don't speak. You can't ever let us hear your voice, or everything will be broken."

How? I wanted to ask. But I never got the time.

Namjoon's dimples. Taehyung's rectangular smile. Jimin's laughter. Yoongi's sleeping position. Jin's hugs. Hoseok's sun-like face. Jungkook's kiss.

My brain had been looking for any form of escape, and found it in Jungkook's words. I cut everything off too quickly to even say goodbye.

The air didn't leave my lungs, it disappeared. It was like I'd lost something important, baring me to the freezing cold and abandoning me to die. I couldn't see Jungkook's face, nor anything else.

I was alone.