Hollow Bodies

FIVE DAYS.

(A/N: before heading in— this was something i started up for a halloween horror challenge a couple of years ago. i didn't enter it because it wasn't finished. horror is a genre i've never written and figured i would dabble a bit in it, so yeah, my apologies if this is pure shit. it was just about time this thing saw the light of day.
for reference, it's supposed to be slightly reminiscent to the themes of rosemary's baby.
thanks in advance.)

𓅓

THE INCIDENT.

Jungkook brought a hand to his face, softly breathing onto his fingers as he tried to fight against the chilly October air. He stared vacantly at the gray sidewalk, subconsciously watching his breath puff out in clouds. Every day it seemed the sunrise came later and later; it was still basically dark as he stood there waiting for the morning bus to come.
The boy looked about his surroundings after a moment, first looking for other students coming in his direction, then taking note of the nearby houses. Halloween was just five days away and one could tell; it looked like the holiday had squatted down and taken a shit on the houses of Jungkook's neighborhood, and every other house in town for that matter.
It wasn't as if Jungkook hated Halloween. It just wasn't his favorite holiday.
After about five minutes, there were three other kids besides Jungkook standing at the stop, and the bus finally came to pick them up. He looked up as he stepped into the bus, seeing a nice surprise: neon colored index cards above the window to each seat, each marked with two names for that seat. Jungkook silently cursed to himself, shooting a side glance at the bus driver before eyeing each card for his name. The lady had snapped the week prior about a case of vandalism on her bus and made the threat of assigned seats. The threat seemed empty for about three sweet days there.
Jungkook let out a sigh of relief as he found his name next to one he recognized: Park Jimin. And of course, there Jimin was, looking peachy as ever even first thing in the morning. The elder smiled at Jungkook before scooting closer to the window, making room for the taller boy to sit. At least the driver didn't separate him from his best friend.
"Looks like she was serious," Jungkook muttered as he sat down, taking another look at the neon pink index card above his seat. He hissed as he was met with a pinch to the bicep from Jimin, pulling away and immediately expressing his complaint. "Hey—"
"Kookie." Jimin raised his eyebrows then gave a nod towards the driver, and when Jungkook looked he could see her eyes right on them from the rearview mirror. "She's looking. So shut it before she does something worse."
"Like what?" Jimin gave Jungkook another warning look, and the younger finally conceded, giving a huff as he sank into the seat. "She needs to chill, though," he whispered, bottom lip jutting out from force of habit as he looked at the floor. He heard Jimin scoff in amusement as the bus pulled off, their bodies swaying with the rough turns and stops of the bus.
There were three more stops after theirs, and then the bus would head to the school campus as the morning routine called for. Jungkook looked up when they pulled up to the stop following his own, watching the students file in for only a short moment before growing bored of it and looking down at his phone. He couldn't seem to focus at all; his phone had sat open on his lap for at least seven minutes and he hadn't even done anything, just let it sit on the home screen.
He began swiping through the pages and browsing his apps for the fourth time when the bus pulled off, but he looked up again in surprise when it stopped a mere few seconds later. Jungkook could see the heads of most students turn up, all obviously confused by the oddity. He looked first at Jimin, then out the window to see if maybe there had been a straggler the bus driver was picking up.
No student.
He looked down the aisle towards the front of the bus again to see a hefty older woman boarding, speaking only a few words to the bus driver before making her way down the aisle. Jungkook's heart began to beat a bit harder as the lady came closer and closer to his seat, fear flooding into his mind. What if she was coming for him? Why would she want Jungkook, anyways? He began to play back the past couple of weeks in his mind to try and recall if he'd done something worthy of being called out midway through the morning bus route, but nothing immediately surfaced.
Jungkook's thoughts were put on an abrupt halt as the lady stopped right next to his seat, pointedly staring in his direction. He looked up as heat filled his chest, his heart beginning to pound as every excuse came to mind. His mother would fucking kill him if he got in any serious trouble, and he'd go to any lengths to avoid that.
"You, come here," the woman said in a gruff voice. Jungkook opened his mouth to respond, but then he realized that she wasn't speaking to him; she held an arm out and pointed directly at Jimin to affirm her command. Jungkook turned his head to view his friend, seeing a mix of confusion and upset on his face.
"What-- me??" Jimin pointed to himself as if to make completely clear who me was, and the lady nodded.
"Yeah, I'm gonna need you to come with me," she responded, not so gruffly but still firm.
"Why though?" Jungkook's heart skipped a beat at the inquiry; Jimin was never one to resist or talk back, and especially not with the snippy attitude his voice seemed to edge on.
"You just have to come with me." There was a very short, very heated back and forth that ensued along the same lines of "why" and "just because." Jimin had proceeded to get up nonetheless during the confrontation, probably seeing as he would either voluntarily get up or be forcibly removed from the bus, but he still demanded a reason.
"I don't get it-- what did I do?" Jimin pressed on, standing in the aisle and facing the woman.
"Listen," she began, taking a step forward to urge Jimin down the aisle and gesturing with her hands, "you can either come with me right now or you can be written up and suspended. It's up to you."
Jungkook watched as Jimin rolled his eyes but finally conceded, quietly voicing his complaints as he trudged off the bus. The driver shut the door shortly after the two had gotten off, continuing as normal. To the next stop. To the last stop. To the school. No more unexpected stops.