Not proofread

Seungmin felt weird in a way he couldn't explain. He had been standing near the edge of the small cliff that gave one a perfect view of the little hut in the small valley, which was the only part of the hunters' headquarter that was above ground, ever since the mission started.

Everything was entirely serene. There was no sign of the ambush that was taking part underground and Seungmin liked to call that unsettling. It reminded him too much of the silence before a storm.

Still, the redhead couldn't claim that the mission had in any way failed. A lot of different rescue parties, including the ones his friends were parts of, had come and went bringing injured prisoners  with them in the last hour or so. At this point, Seungmin was confident that there couldn't be much left, but something felt off.

At first it was a little, barely noticeable sting in his abdomen, then a tight feeling in his chest followed and now another little sting in his thigh. It was weird and Seungmin hoped dearly that it had nothing to do with his moral compass.

His hand wrapped around the polished red stone that was dangling from his neck. The stone glowed a bit when Seungmin's skin came into contact with its smooth surface. Warmth accompanied with a bit of dark yet powerful magic began to coat Seungmin's hand, but it only lasted for a second. The magic quickly retreated again and the glowing dimmed down until it had disappeared.

Seungmin let a sigh escape his lips, his breath visible in the cold air of the early morning. They still had plenty of time before the sun would chase away the stars and moon, yet the night had already  passed for the red-haired demon.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Seungmin looked over to his brother and best friend, who stood not far from him. Woosu on the other hand had a post out of his sight which was inconvenient to an extend, but he was too well aware of his brother's magical abilities to worry. Wonpil and Jisung were a different case. Even in the darkness and without an enhanced eye sight, Seungmin could tell how the two were feeling and neither looked too good.

Wonpil stood up straight, looking ahead and the only movement detectable for Seungmin was his hand playing with something around his neck. Some people may call his stance relaxed, but Seungmin knew his brother too well to not notice the anxiety hidden in his hand's movements. The older demon was playing with the necklace he wore around his neck ever since Christmas. It was the silver one Dowoon had gifted him. Wonpil had already managed to make a habit out of playing with the necklace whenever he was worried. Most of the time this worry was for Dowoon which made it even more fitting.

Jisung showed much more emotional turmoil in his posture than Wonpil; though, Seungmin had to admit that it had gotten better ever since the rest of Stray Kids had shown up to bring the Lee brothers' parents to safety. Before that had happened, Jisung had been clutching at his chest almost hunching over like someone was hurting him from inside of his rib cage.
When Seungmin had checked on him because of that, Jisung had said that Minho must be anxious and scared out of his mind. It had confused and alarmed Seungmin, because the implication was that something had happened to their friends. Luckily, the young demons fear had been soothed when he had felt Byungho's magic trying to connect with his own.

At the moment, Jisung was just hugging himself, looking down to the little hut in the middle of the vale like Seungmin had only minutes prior. He probably had a far away look in his sky blue eyes, but anyone who dared to think that the blue-haired warlock wasn't on guard was a fool. Seungmin had never seen his best friend more concentrated in his life than at this moment.

A movement in the corner of his eyes let Seungmin snap his head around almost automatically, only to see J.Seph quickly running over to the medical station. The redhead raised an eyebrow at the action, but a part of his brain was already screaming at him in alarm. If you saw a guardian running in a stressed manner towards the location of another guardian something had to be wrong. The fact that J.Seph was also the one responsible for the communication between the rescue parties made the whole thing only worse.

Seungmin quickly shook his head when he felt his thoughts spiraling into worst case scenarios. The young demon took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders while straightening his back. He had to remain focused. If he distracted himself too much, there was a possibility of him accidentally missing Byungho's magic reaching out to him. That could end in an immediate disaster he didn't want to risk, but there was no harm in keeping an eye on the medical station to see if J.Seph or Taeil appeared.

It took a few moments, but J.Seph eventually did re-emerge from the medical station. The guardian quickly strode towards the forest near the medical station where Seungmin knew were the majority of the werewolves and wolf hybrids from the Moon pack along with their leader. The bad feeling in the pit of the demon's stomach grew worse when J.Seph was out of his sight again and slowly a small voice began to whisper in the back of Seungmin's head.

Something was definitely wrong, but apparently J.Seph didn't want to announce it yet. A bit of anger flared up in Seungmin's chest and he clutched his hands into fists. Why did no one want to tell them what was up? They should know if something went south! They needed to react to it! Seungmin had promise to keep!

The young demon dug his nails into his palms, the little voice in the back of his head fueling his anger. A sudden warm feeling on his chest, reminded Seungmin that his anger was absolutely unnecessary. He took another deep breath and relaxed his hand, letting them go limb at his sides.

"This is just great," the demon thought to himself and tore his gaze away from the part of the forest where J.Seph had disappeared. The guardian must have his reason for not announcing anything yet. If something serious was coming up, they would surely be informed.

Seungmin let his eyes wander back to the vale, taking a quick glance at both his older brother and  best friend. Both of them had remained in their previous positions. If they had noticed J.Seph's odd behavior they had either decided to not let it worry them or they didn't show their anxiety in the slightest. The later option was more reasonable in Wonpil's case than Jisung's.

A little sigh escape the demon's lips yet again. His eyes were focused on the seemingly idyl, little hut in the middle of the vale. There was no way of telling what was going on beneath that hut, or that it was supposed to be the entrance to the headquarter of people who were trained to kill. It really was ironic, wasn't it?

The only thing Seungmin could do right now was wait and hope for the best, but should he get the feeling that the mission was completely going south, he would get his friends to safety. No matter the cost. He promised that and if there was one absolutely reliable thing about demons then it was their word.

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Everything seemed to be swimming around him. He could feel the cold floor pressing into his back, his labored breathing and the blinding light that stung his eyes. There were voices and fighting noises in the background, but he was too focused on the burning pain in his abdomen to focus on them.

He knew he had pressed his hand onto his wound. The sticky blood clearly surrounded his hand, trying to push against the flesh and bones barrier. For the first time in his life, Changbin prayed to the gods that his Red Glow had already kicked in and that he was healing, but he wasn't sure about that. He knew he had another wound too, hopefully a less server one.

To the gods, he hated this. He hated how he froze when he saw Byungho surrounded by gigantic black wings, he hated how for one moment he didn't pay attention and was stabbed by the very man that had tried to shoot him with a crossbow when he had tired to save Mrs. Lee back at the Sky Clan territory, he hates how he was laying on the cold floor and having no clue what was really going on around him because very little movement let pain shoot through his entire body.

The only thing he could do was stop himself from loosing all of his blood, which was dangerous for even a vampire. Bleeding out could send a vampire into a coma or - if they still had enough strength - trigger their instincts to hunt for blood. Neither was ideal right now, but thanks to the Red Glow of royal vampires Changbin only had to worry about the coma. At least he hoped that. 

Changbin shallowed hard. His vision was hazy and he could see nothing expect the blinding light that came from the ceiling. He tried blinking to get his vision to clear up a little but it only made his eyes sting more. His head felt like it was filled with cotton and every little movement hurt like someone set him on fire.

"Damn it," the young vampire king pressed out between gritted teeth. Breathing felt hard but it was getting better with each passing second. He pressed the hand that laid over his wound a bit stronger onto his wound, feeling his body pulsing underneath his palm while attempting to heal itself. The scent of his own blond began to sting into his nose.

"-ngbin," the vampire's ears registered someone talking not far from them. The voice was familiar as well as surprisingly soothing and warm. He blinked again, trying to refocus his eyes when a shadow fell over him. The blinding lights were shut out by something black.

"Changbin," the voice called his name and this time Changbin could register that it came from his side. He turned his head towards the voice and saw a familiar face. Byungho was looking down at him. His usual dark eyes, shining in bright gold. The other's body was angled weirdly. One arm was outstretched away from them. His golden magic surrounded him, a testimony of all the spells he had used and a sign for the ones to come. It almost seemed like he was fighting while simultaneously trying to talk to Changbin.

"Changbin, your wounds are healing but I need you to stay awake alright?," Byungho went on. His bright golden eyes looked directly into the blood red ones from the young vampire king. Changbin nodded briefly, feeling how he slowly regained more focus.

A memory flashed back into the forefront of the vampire's mind. The hunter, who had stabbed him, had been pulled away from him by golden magic. He remembered himself stumbling back, remember people screaming his name, remember the horror on his hyungs' faces when he crashed into the wall, clutching at his abdomen and gasping for breath. He remembered a pair of black wings rushing towards him. After that his vision had become hazy while his body tried to regenerate as quick as possible. What he couldn't remember was receiving more than one wound.

Judging by the pain on his thigh a wound had to be there, but he couldn't recall how he got it. What he could remember was that Byungho saved him and that for some reason he had goddamn wings.

"Changbin!," Byungho's voice ripped the vampire out his memories. The brunet's voice was stern and pierced right through the haze that had started to collect itself in front of Changbin's eyes. The vampire blinked rapidly a few times to get his head back into the present.

"I'm here, I'm here," the vampire croaked, his voice surprising rough. The vampire focused his eyes back onto Byungho's bright golden ones. Despite the other's voice having been piercing and stern there was nothing but concern and panic in the golden orbs. Byungho was scared.

"I will be fine, hyung," the reassuring words left Changbin's mouth the second he thought it. The panic in the older male's eyes subsided a little bit. "Just stay awake, please," Byungho mumbled, his eyes darting away from Changbin and towards the enemies.

Despite them having been there this entire time, Changbin could finally look at the other's wings properly. They were pitch black and surrounded both Byungho and Changbin like a shield, almost drowning out everything that was happening around them. It brought a comfort to Changbin in a way he couldn't explain properly.

The vampire took a small breath and slowly brought his gaze down to his own body. There was a bit of dark blood on his side and his cloths were clearly stained, but it was barely noticeable. His hand was still pressed firmly onto his side. Further down he could see a cut in his pants over his right thigh and a bit of blood there. It didn't look to bad, which made Changbin attempt to move it. Pain instantly burned through his entire right leg when the vampire just remotely tensed his muscles. The young vampire hissed in mild pain, letting the limb go lack again, hoping the pain would quickly subdue again. 

"Can you move without hurting yourself more?," Byungho asked, glancing at the vampire. Changbin raised his gaze back up to the winged man. Byungho was entirely focused on what was happening outside of the feathery cocoon he created himself. Essentially the only thing Changbin could see at this point where black feathers, Byungho and the lights on the ceiling. He had no visual on the situation his hyung was facing nor did he know what was really going on. The only thing he could hear were fighting noises and the sound of metal and claw scratching the floor or walls.

Slowly, Changbin could feel more and more of his strength return to him while simultaneously regaining a certain calmness. His eyes were burning with a deep red color. His royal Red Glow was essentially working in overdrive to keep his mind focused despite his injuries and his enhanced want for blood.

It was a natural reaction for a vampire. When their bodies regenerate themselves, they demand blood to recover their full strength. Vampires didn't need blood to survive or live, they just needed it for power and in some cases pleasure. In a way blood was a drug with no downsides for vampires though that comparison only worked for the general understanding and not for science.

Changbin took a deep breath and almost regretted it because of the blood scent that stung his nostrils and made a small part of his instincts scream for blood before they were silenced by the Red Glow. The vampire wanted nothing more to answer his hyung's question with yes, but he really wasn't sure yet. The wound in his abdomen was server as far as he could tell by the amount of blood he must have lost and the extreme pain, yet he had no clue how far his body had managed to heal it until now.

"I don't know. I can try though," Changbin replied, receiving another glance from his winged hyung. "Just be careful," the burnet replied lowly, his eyes still focused on a scene Changbin had yet to see.

The young vampire gave the other male a quick nod before he mentally prepared himself to try to sit up. It would most certain hurt a lot in his abdomen. Placing his free hand firmly against the cold tiles underneath him was the first step. The next would be pushing himself up without letting the muscles in his right leg tense too much because to the gods he wanted to avoid as much pain as possible.

Without stalling any further, Changbin put all his strength into his right arm and pushed himself up.  Hot, red pain shot through his abdomen, but the vampire gritted his teeth and got himself into a sitting position, his left hand pressing more firmly onto his wound.

He could feel his body tremble lightly underneath his palm and he swore he could see the red glow his eyes were emitting on the black fabric of his pants. The pain slowly subsided and became bearable enough for Changbin to relax his jaw.

Changbin wanted to sigh in relief, but suddenly Byungho grabbed his arm and yanked both of them back. The black feathers of the older male's wings puffed up defensively when a gush of air pushed against them from Byungho's quick movement.

For a short moment Changbin could get a few glimpses of the situation Byungho was shielding him from. Zendala, who you couldn't overlook with her midnight blue cloak and dark blue hair, was standing among the hunters. She was surrounded by magic and there were signs of ice splitters littered around the white corridor and some of them where pierced into the place that had previously been occupied by Changbin and Byungho. One of the icicles had pierced itself into the ground where Changbin had laid. The ice was slowly melting and mixing itself with the blood the vampire kind had lost.

"She has done that a couple of times now. Hit you once too," Byungho mumbled beside the vampire king as he resumed his previous defensive position. Changbin's sight was taken once more when Byungho's gigantic black wings wrapped themselves around the two young men again.

Byungho's barely coherent mumble made Changbin assumed that the wound in his thigh was from one of Zendala's icicles. He wanted to ask Byungho how many times Zendala had managed to get past Byungho's shield with her icicles but a harsh sting in his abdomen reminded him of his wound and how awkward he was currently sitting. Byungho had already let go of his arm in favor of performing magic, but the vampire had remained in a position was that something between sitting and laying down and it put a strain on the muscles in his stomach. He quickly straightened up with a small hiss, his left hand still planted firmly onto his wound.

A sigh of relief escaped him when the pain resumed to being bearable. He looked down to the wound, seeing no blood dripping out between his fingers. His hand was coated in his dark red blood, almost becoming one with the dark, tainted fabric of his black top. The vampire was tempted to take his hand away and take a look at the wound, but he was unsure whether or not that was a good idea.

For minute to minute, Changbin's nose seemed to grow finer and finer. Besides his own blood, Changbin began to pick up the scent from the blood that must have been spilled from the fighting. He could smell the blood of humans and vampires, but also pick up on the sweet note that seemed to be webbed into the blood of magical creatures.

The vampire immediately ripped himself out of the mild haze his instincts used to cloud his mind with the help of his Red Glow. He did it in favor of focusing on his hearing. The fighting noises were still the most prominent sound his ears were able to pick up, but it was joined by a noise that came from behind him and Byungho. The faint sound of boots beating against the ground, accompanied by the scratching of claws against the tiled floor. It was mildly alarming until he heard a voice in his head.

"We're almost there. We should be coming from behind you, so we can rush them and push them back," the voice of his former biology and sociology teacher, Mr. Kim, rang through his head. It immediately clicked in Changbin's head that BTS was coming to help the creatures that were already here. It was save to assume that only Changbin's vampire hyungs, BM and Byungho were currently fighting the hunters, but there could be someone else here too.

The approaching footsteps became louder and louder until eventually, Changbin could hear something very large run past him and Byungho. It was followed by two deep, animalistic growls. One obviously from a werewolf and the other from something feline as far as Changbin could tell.
Changbin wanted to let out a sigh of relief and try to get himself to move a bit more, but he froze when he heard a certain someone's smooth, worried voice. Judging by the way Byungho tensed he also recognized the voice.

"Hyungs?," Hyunjin's voice asked in an unsure, worried tone. Next thing, Changbin knew was how Byungho's wings rearranged themselves so they just blocked the vampire king from the view of the enemies, granting the young male the ability to look over his shoulder and see his boyfriend standing among the other members of Stray Kids.

Hyunjin's eyes glossed over the second their gazes and within heartbeats was the vampire pulled into the siren's arms. Changbin could feel his body ache in protest to being turned at weird angles, but at the moment he didn't care because only one question was occupying his mind right now.

Why, for the love of all the gods, was Hyunjin even here and not in the safety of the NCT headquarter?

Author's note: I got the motivation to finally finish this chapter. It took me way too long and the length of the chapter is average :,) In all honesty I have a hard time getting back into writing (as you may have noticed by my inactivity). I'm trying hard to get back into it because writing is essentially my only hobby and it would make me super sad if I just stopped writing, ya know?
I wanna thank you lots and lots for reading this chapter and for your patience. 
I love you, take care of yourself!
Lots of love,
Akeminii