Nightcrawlers | JohnJae

He who walks at the dead of the night

Police locked down the whole building, luckily the building was mostly used as library and clinic, classes were not disrupted, but the foul smell of the library worsen, it was from a dead body, not some old books from God knows where. Johnny became an instant star, everybody wants to know a tiny bit of gossip about Dowoon's death. But clearly, Johnny knew that the boy came earlier than him, speaking of which, it has been a week but Johnny never saw the kid again.

"Lucas, have you seen any pale kid with black hair around here?" Johnny asked Lucas on one of their practice games.

"You have to be more specific than that" Lucas groaned

"He's about this tall" Johnny patted Lucas's neck, the younger flinched "He has two deep dimples, his eyes were sharp, like cat-eyes"

"I dunno hyung, haven't seen anyone like that"

Johnny was frustrated, what if the kid killed Dowoon? He sure looked younger than Johnny, and he was wearing the same uniform. And he smelled blood? Dowoon's body was ice cold, no the blood on his clothes have dried. That kid is a total whack, Johnny is annoyed. The athlete went to the campus gym for some after class workout, to get his mind off of things, the gym closes at 10pm and Johnny chose to workout until then. It was already dark when Johnny finished showering, almost 11pm, hallways were empty as it's an hour before curfew. Johnny packed his bag, ready to return to dorms and sleep his fatigue away. He was startled when he heard soft footsteps behind him. Johnny stopped and turned around, no one. Must be his mind playing games, he continued to walk, it was a ten-minute stroll from the Wellness building, where most kids hangout and chill, to the dorms.

"Yo dude, this ain't funny" Johnny shrugged, dead tired and annoyed.

"Who said it should?" Johnny froze when a voice whispered, straight to his ear. What the hell?

Johnny was about to punch the person but he punched the air. He disappeared? Johnny was startled when a loud crashing sound echoed, it came from the lockers. Johnny knows this is how characters get killed on movies, when they get too curious and runs straight to the dangerously suspicious area. But what can he do? It's natural of him to do it. He stupidly followed his guts and ran straight to where the noise came from. "H-hey?" Johnny shakily snuck inside and was surprised to see the back of a boy, pinning someone on the locker, the...creature..no, it didn't look human, it had bat wings, naked and no sexual organ down there...no nipples...(not that Johnny intentionally stared at her boobs, jeez) it only had mouth and fangs, the rest of her face was blank, she had claws.

"You disgusting creatures" the boy strangled the creature, the woman writhing in pain and terror, Johnny covered his mouth to keep quiet.

"Yo, dude we got an eye here" a chuckle from behind Johnny, he's dead, huh.

"Oh" the familiar voice, Johnny's eyes widened, the boy from earlier turned around, the same black hair, cat-eyes, pale skin, the dimples...

"It's you again! It must be destiny" the boy cheerfully skipped to Johnny as if he didn't just strangle a monster to death.

"You...what the fuck was that?" Johnny shoved the boy away.

"Hey, what the hell man, we saved you from death!" The boy behind him slapped the back of Johnny's head

"Kookie-yah, don't be too harsh" a third boy came walking in, they all looked young...and like..really pretty boys.

Johnny clenched his fists, ready to punch anyone who dare to lay a finger on him. The boys shared a look, as if deciding whether to end Johnny or not. "I agree, sorry Kookie" the third boy announced, it's as if they had telepathy. "Go, but if you tell anyone about what you saw, you're dead" the cookies guy scoffed, the other two waved at Johnny, the taller quickly running to the dorms.

The next day, it was Saturday, Johnny made sure to return to the lockers with his camera. There was no trace of blood from the creature, it was as if the crime was erased, the lockers are all aligned and neat, no sign of any violence from last night. The library was open again, what's a better way to investigate some unworldly shits in school, than going to the holy library itself. Johnny admits that he hates reading, he joined here through basketball, jeez. The library was spacious, as usual, since boys tend to be more active physically, only few would rather spend their Saturday on a boring library that had a dead boy on its roofdeck a week ago. Johnny sat on the farthest chair, at the back, he didn't want any disturbance, he finally had the time to read the manhwa he borrowed from Taeyong, that monster creature can wait after he finish this volume. He softly tapped the table in excitement as the story intensifies, what he did not expect was a carve on the table.

ΕΟΔΑ

"The hell?" Johnny wrote it on a piece of paper, is there a cult shit inside the campus? Johnny was startled when his phone vibrated.

"Johnny Suh! Where the heck are you? Dowoon's funeral is today, you shit" his basketball team captain, Jackson Wang, shouted through the phone. Johnny quickly got up and ran out.

---

On the thin walls behind the library, a hidden room was lit with a single candle. "That rat is seriously trying to get our necks" Jungkook scoffed, crossing his legs "Hey, he's friends with the dead kid, of course he would be concerned" Eunwoo, the pristine, reasoned out, Jungkook made fake gagging noises "Anyway, why'd you even decide to spare his life?" The tallest, Hyunbin, asked.

"He looked interesting" Jaehyun just grinned.

"Oh come on, he's annoying" Bangchan complained

"The dead kid saw too much anyway, not our problem" Yugyeom added, the others nodded

The group of six sat on a circle table, in the center was a lit candle. "We'll go out again tonight, the pests are creeping inside" Bangchan demanded, the others nodded in agreement. "Why can't we mingle with them? I really missed school" Hyunbin rested his cheek on the table, whining. "Do you wanna get exposed? Just follow the rules Bin, no one will get hurt" Yugyeom raised an eyebrow. "How are the other kids from Pledis?" Jungkook asked Chan "Rumors said Mingyu's bloodlust is controllable now, can you believe?" Chan announced (A/N: lowkey promoting my other fic).

"Well, I will stay on my lane and go to my rooftop, dunno about you guys, call me if you need anything, I'm one telepathy away" Jaehyun chuckled before disappearing in a snap.

"Thinks his teleporting skills is cute, pft" Jungkook shook his head in amusement.

"You kids look after Jaehyun, that rascal is looking for trouble with that basketball kid"

That ended a brief meeting of the boys that lingers the dark corridors of Yu Taecheol high school.