Your eyes snap open from where you lay on your bed. You don't remember getting there, but you shouldn't be surprised by that anymore, especially if the memory you dreamt was real.

Demons? An Incubus?

Out of all the things you thought Jungkook had gotten himself into, you definitely didn't think it would involve the supernatural.

Amidst all your confusion, it makes the situation all that much more dire. Somehow, everything also makes more sense. Like Jungkook being resurrected through your art and the fraying blue at the edges of your vision.

And that woman, whoever she was, seemed to be at the center of quite a bit of it. It didn't take much to figure out she wasn't exactly human either if Jungkook had been telling the truth.

Still, no matter how much everything pieces together, it feels like a fantasy. Real only in the words of a story.

To think that this is what's become of your life, all the myths you were told as a kid becoming very much real, goes against all logic.

Because none of this should exist.

For just a moment, you're in your thoughts, processing it all, until the three men in your apartment burst into your room. Quite literally. The door swings open and almost slams into a wall. Namjoon is quick to stop it but stumbles over himself as he does.

"Smooth," Taehyung remarks with a shake of his head.

Yoongi walks in right after them. They immediately become a part of the background as your brother comes to sit at the edge of the bed, hands wrapping around yours and lightly squeezes.

"You were out for a day. I was so worried." His voice shakes. Then, something you've rarely seen him do, his eyes well with tears.

You firmly tighten your grip on him in reassurance. "I'm okay. It was just a lot to remember."

Everyone freezes. Yoongi simply blinks the tears away at the news.

"Everything?" He asks slowly.

"No, not everything, but I know enough."

None of them dare to prod more. Just the way you say it is all they need to realize what you mean.

You know the truth now. About Jungkook, why he did what he did, and just what he'd gotten himself into.

The severity weighs the room in baited breaths. Light and heavy all at once. You don't if it's seconds or minutes but the silence is uneasy, and it remains even as Taehyung speaks up.

"What do we do now?"

All eyes fall on Namjoon.

No one's explicitly given him the leadership role, but throughout all this, he's been the decision maker of everything they've done surrounding Jungkook.

It's only logical to turn to him now.

After a sigh, he squares his shoulders.

"We come up with a plan."

×××××××

Jungkook is awake, and it feels like the first time he has been in days. Yet, his eyelids feel just as heavy and exhaustion brims every part of his body. He can barely move.

All he can muster is the twitch of his fingers, his gaze roaming the darkened room that looks all too similar to the one in his sleep.

There are slight differences. The air is sticky, and his face is wet. Everything else, the bed and bareness, remain exactly the same.

He knows that he could've been here for months, and he'd never know. Time here is unmeasurable. At least for him it is. Going in and out of consciousness. Not knowing what's real or if it's all in his head.

Sucking in a breath, his lungs strain. It feels like they're being stretched, torn into by each sharp intake of stale air. He involuntarily coughs. The pain that racks through him makes his vision hazy.

Despite how much it hurts, his body tempted to give into the weak and numb feeling of sleep, he wills himself to stay alert.

I need to get out of here.

On instinct, he forces the thought aside before remembering that Jimin can't read him while he's awake.

He glances at the door to his side. What's only a couple feet away, seems like it's much farther with how tired he feels. Unrestrained, he's free to move, but he might as well be tied to the bed.

Jungkook can't even slide an inch in it's direction.

This is all Jimin's doing. He's intoxicated. Not on drugs or alcohol but something like venom.

That hopelessness he's tried to fight off swarms him in an instant.

He'll never get to you. Never save you.

You're going to die, and he can't do anything to stop it.

A tear rolls down the side of his face. That's when he realizes why his face is so damp. He's been crying, struggling against an invisible restraint. Entirely helpless.

He didn't deserve this second chance. All he's done is waste time and put you and and his friends further in harm's way.

At some point, he won't even be himself anymore.

Jimin will have control of his body. He'll take away everything Jungkook loves and leave him all the more battered. He'd be heartbroken if it wasn't already in shambles.

Jungkook would never tell you that you were the reason for it. It's not important anymore. He's not sure it ever was.

Though it's true what they say. People in love do crazy things.

What he did was insane by all means. That was back before he knew for certainty that there were supernatural beings out there.

Now, here is. Getting the torture he deserves.

If he had just been there, loved you, and let go of all that toxicity, things would've ended differently.

Maybe he'd have never died. Maybe you would've never cheated. Maybe you'd be together, married with a family.

Jungkook could've forgiven you for the affair, could've learned to trust you again. Instead he took all that anger and his broken heart to shatter whatever love you may have had left.

He lets out a whimper, wrestling against his incapability to move. All he succeeds in doing is clenching the bedsheet underneath his fingertips.

Damnit!

He slackens his hold on the bed and starts thinking he should just give up. He wasn't going anywhere. Jimin made sure of that.

In resignation, he ceases to fight. It isn't until then he notices he's regained feeling back in his fingers.

Jungkook almost laughs out of relief.

Whatever Jimin did to him, had left him paralyzed, which means if he tried hard enough, he could start escape.

Gradually, his continuing movements, lead to him being able to turn his wrist. After a while, he's able to move his entire arm.

It takes a lot of time. Time he could've spared had he made different choices, but nevertheless, in what feels like endless hours, Jungkook manages to sit himself up.

Every part of his body tingles as he slides ever so slowly to the edge of the bed.

Almost there.

He warily dogs his heels into the hard floor and stands. His knees wobble, but he doesn't fall. When he's sure of himself, he takes a steady step forward. It becomes two, the three, until he's right in front of the door.

It could be locked for all he knows, but he attempts to turn to the knob. It does so easily.

Cracking the door open, he takes a peek outside.

Nothing.

He could do it. He could actually leave.

It's only then that he realizes he doesn't know the way out, but he'll cross that bridge when he gets there. Staying out would only endanger you and everyone else.

Jungkook silently slips out of the room, tip-toeing across the mangled hallway. Dirt covers the ground, accompanied by pieces of plaster from the wall and ceiling.

It's such a contrast to the clean room he's been holed up in,  but he doesn't give it a second thought as he gets closer to the only other door in the hall, which is also unlocked.

Not once does it cross his mind that it's all too simple.

Instead, he keeps going down has and through doors till he reaches the entrance of what he assumes to be a rundown warehouse.

Jungkook walks out effortlessly and heads to the one place he knows how to get to by heart.

a/n: had to split this chapter bc then it just would've been too much. i am not ready for the next part. i'm not sure you are ready for the next part. a bit of it's predictable but there's going to be another twist. and i may or not build off it and write a 2nd book. not too sure yet but we'll see ;)

literally 6 more chapters left TT it's been a little over a year since i started this project, and now I'm just a few more updates, it's going to be over. i'm excited and happy that i got to share this experience with you, and i'm sad that it's all going to come to end.

thank you so much for sticking around!