I cried...

XLVIII: Jungkook

"NO!" Jimin's agonized scream rings through the air, and it's all I can do to stop him from bolting to the building. "NO! Yoongi!"

He claws at my arms, trying to free himself from my grip. I look up at the sky, to see that the monster is still there, dark balls of energy poised to throw. If we went out into the open now, it would be suicide.

"Let me go!" Tears stream down Jimin's face, as he struggles against my arms. "I need to go to him! He―he can't be dead. Not yet. There's still a chance―"

"Jimin!" I grab onto his shoulders. "It's not safe. The monster can strike at any moment. Yoongi―" I stop, because now I'm in danger of crying. "Yoongi wouldn't have wanted you to risk your life for him. Come on, we need to get somewhere more sheltered." A few meters away, I spot two plates of metal propped into a tent position. It was far from adequate shelter, but it would have to do.

I half drag, half carry a still sobbing Jimin to the small space between the two fallen metal plates forming something like the roof of a house. Once in, Jimin promptly falls to his knees, hands clutching as his heart. A strangled groan leaves his lips as he lists sideways, and I barely manage to catch him in time before he collapses on the ground. Sobs shake his body as he curls up into a ball, and suddenly, he looks so small and broken. Nothing like the confident person who had first shown me around Armad Castle. My own heart aches from the loss of a friend, and I bury my face in my hands as tears threaten to spill over.

"What's going on?" Namjoon's voice sounds right behind me, and I turn around. Everyone from Armad is gathered at the entrance of our makeshift resting place, looking on with concerned expressions on their faces. They have some cuts and bruises on their bodies, but appear relatively unscathed.

"What happened?" Jin asks, his worried eyes darting to Jimin. "Why is Jimin crying?"

"We should get Yoongi," Hoseok says. "He'll know how to calm Jimin down. Has anyone seen him?"

At the mention of his soulmate's name, Jimin seems to wilt even more, bringing his head into his hands. I hug him, letting him cry into my shoulder. Hoseok looks confused and a bit guilty. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Hoseok..." I hesitate, lowering my voice. "Yoongi... he's dead."

Hoseok just stares at me, not understanding. His eyes widen almost comically, and he opens his mouth. But no words come out. Beside him, Lisa covers her mouth with her hand, while Namjoon and Jin seem to still be in the middle of processing the news. Even in the midst of war, silence has never been so deafening.

"How... how did this happen?" Namjoon asks, voice hoarse. Jin leans on his shoulder, a blank look in his eyes.

"We went into an abandoned building because we heard the crying of a child. Yoongi, he―" I swallow, blinking back tears. "H-he didn't make it out. The building collapsed before he could."

The silence in the air is so thick that you could cut it with a sword. Thousands of emotions swirl around, each a mix of pain and loss. Without anyone saying it, Yoongi had become closely tied to each of us. As steady as a rock, he had been the practical one in our group, the one which everyone looked up to and secretly admired. Now with him gone...

"What are we going to do without him?" Jin finally murmurs. "He was... so much more than a friend. And now we've lost him. How are we going to pursue our goal now?"

"We're going to have to continue on even without him," Hoseok says, voice sounding defeated. "Like it or not, this is no time to be mourning a comrade's death. He died so we could have a chance to defeat the monster. We can't let that go to waste. We need to―"

"You're all wrong!" Jimin bursts out, cutting off Hoseok. "Stop talking like he's dead! Yoongi... Yoongi wouldn't die! He wouldn't just leave me like this and go off alone! He wouldn't..." His last words are choked with tears, and he just shakes his head. Hoseok comes over to Jimin, taking his hands in his.

"Jimin," His voice is kind, even mellow. "I know your pain. The way your mind and heart refuses to believe that your other half is dead. But it will be so much worse for you in the long run if you don't accept the truth now. You were his soulmate. You knew him better than anyone. And you should also know that no one can survive a whole building dropped on them. Not even Yoongi, for all his strength. He's gone, Jimin. Us vampires are sometimes thought of as immortal. But we are not indestructible. 60,000 tons of rock would be more than he can stand."

"He's... gone?" Jimin echoes, staring down at his hands. After a long moment he gives a nod, drawing in a shuddering breath. "H-he's gone. He really... left me."

"He didn't leave you," Hoseok says, gripping tighter onto Jimin's hands. "He's still here. In your heart and in ours. As long as his memory lives, so will he. And trust me, no one will forget him easily. He will be honored for generations to come. As a brave soldier, and a caring soulmate."

"It―it should have been me," Jimin says quietly. "I should have died instead. If I hadn't insisted we search the building, he would still be alive. It's all my fault―"

"Stop it Jimin!" Hoseok hugs Jimin tight. "It wasn't your fault. Don't blame yourself. You'll get nothing but pain and misery from that. Do you think that Yoongi will be happy seeing you like this? You'll only make him sad. And you don't want to make him sad, do you?"

"No..." Jimin's voice is barely audible. "I would never."

"Of course you wouldn't," Hoseok says, standing up. "And the first step for that is to get some rest. You're tired, Jimin. Both mentally and physically. I know this war means a lot to you, but let us handle things for a while. Go get some rest." Baekhyun comes forward, extending an arm for Jimin.

"Come on," Baekhyun's voice is soft, so unlike his usual sharp tone that I scarcely recognize it. "Let's get you back to the castle. You need to rest. And once this war is over, we'll have a proper memorial built for Yoongi. He was a loyal soldier, and will be honored accordingly. None of us will ever forget his courage in battle."

Jimin lets Baekhyun sling an arm around his shoulders and pull him up. His silver eyes are much duller than usual, and he struggles to walk, leaning on Baekhyun for the most of the time. As I watch them go, I feel my heart twist into a pretzel, both from the jolt of sadness and loss running through my body, and cold realization.

If our plan failed...

If we couldn't get Taehyung back...

Will I be the next one to cry from the pain of losing my soulmate forever?

XLVIII: The monster

I should feel satisfied.

One less competitor to play in this game. A powerful one, at that. Eliminating Min Yoongi was one of the necessary stages in my plan. He was the person who had kept everyone grounded, thinking with a level head even during complicated situations. With him gone, the group would be in chaos, at least for a while.

And yet... seeing Jimin's heartbroken form on the ground, and Jungkook leaning over him, trying to calm him... it woke something in me. Something I thought was dormant and long gone. It was the fragments of a feeling deep in my heart, not yet whole, but clearly there. I couldn't quite grasp it, as it kept slipping through my fingers like the pieces of shattered glass, but I knew it was somewhere deep inside me. It just needed a trigger.

And it was enough to make me realize my actions for a split second. I was now the reason that Jimin would have to live forever without his soulmate. Feel the pain every day until it either broke him or took over. Make him become bitter to the world, and shut himself inside his protective shell and never come out.

Make him like me.

The cruelest actions come from the deepest pain.

Jimin had been Taehyung's best friend for as long as I could remember. Did he really deserve all of this suffering? Losing his soulmate, who was half of his heart itself? Feeling that stabbing, aching pain in his heart when he realized that whatever he did, the past could never be undone? That he was alone?

Weakness. I push my earlier thoughts away. I cannot allow myself to think this way. I am a shadow demon, am I not? Born from the darkest pits of despair in Taehyung's mind. Killing was second nature to me, and I fed off the suffering of others. Why should I care whether Jimin lost his soulmate? If Jungkook lived or died? In the end, they were all puny vampires, who could die from the single blow of a blade. I was in a sense, immortal. Higher than them. Why should I concern myself with their worries and pain? They meant nothing to me.

But my human host was not so unfeeling.

... or was he?

Taehyung has gone deathly silent inside me, as if shocked into submission. Yoongi had been his deputy for more than 200 years, and the two thought of each other as valuable friends. What must it feel like, I wonder, to lose someone that close to you? If anything, I had expected Taehyung to scream, try to take control, call me foul names. Anything but just sit there in silence, processing the death of his lieutenant. Perhaps he was even wondering what would have happened if the vampire who died had been Jungkook?

How do you feel? I transmit to him, feeling that his mind had weakened enough for me to talk to him. Now that your deputy is dead? By my hands?

No response.

Your rescue mission is breaking apart, Taehyung, I press. Soon they will be lost, like leaves in the wind. Is that what you want?

This time, there's the faintest spark of light in my mind. And then a voice fills my head.

Empty. Taehyung murmurs. I feel... empty. I hate that people I think of as family are dying for a cause that has little hope to begin with. For me. I don't want anyone else to have to sacrifice their life, just to try and defeat you. Neither I nor you are worth that type of sacrifice. 

All is fair in love and war, isn't it, I say bitterly. I cut off my connection with him, having heard enough. Taehyung doesn't try to fight back, which makes it all the more infuriating. 

My attention is directed to the specters gather in the streets, arms stretched out to me. Their mouths move into words, and I feel their pleas in my mind. Linked by shadow, I can hear their thoughts.

Please sire, They say. Our brethren are dying. We cannot attack the eight people from Armad as your orders protect them. They will kill us if we do not retaliate. All you work for will be lost. Save us by letting us kill them.

It was true. I saw the specter's numbers dwindling ever since the vampires from Armad had joined the fight. Because I had been selfish enough to try and keep one person alive. My eyes stray to Jungkook's form on the ground next to Jimin. Such beautiful eyes he had. A dark red, turning almost crimson. He... intrigued me in many ways. So different from the usual vampire. I find myself wondering how sweet his blood would taste on my tongue. How he would look when he laughed. All the things I would never get to experience because he despised me. Because I was not Taehyung.

He was my weakness.

And how could I let my only weakness live?

It was vital that I kill him off early so that he wouldn't keep invading my thoughts. A shadow demon shouldn't feel this way for another person.

But the thought of the specters murdering him... that I just couldn't stand.

The balls of energy fizz in my hands as I extinguish them. I turn to the specters lingering in the streets, and they flinch under my dark gaze. They know better than to try and defy my orders. We were made of the same shadow, but I was so much more powerful than they could ever imagine.

Leave Jeon Jungkook alone. I say. Everyone else... kill them all. 

Things are about to get real next chapter!!!