Mortal Masks

Chapter Fifteen

Jaemin screamed in undiluted terror as the blade shimmered in the muted moonlight, thrusted high into the air, in triumph.

He could taste the saltiness of his tears as he opens his mouth once more, his throat so raw, so painful, as he pleads with the figure lying beaten and bloody on the floor- their hand outstretched towards him.

'Get up!' He tries to shout, to instruct, 'Get up and fight! You have to fight back, please! Please, get up!'

But all that leaves his lips is a rasp of a sob, his shoulders shaking harshly, jerking his body as he reaches out his own hand to the broken boy before him.

"J-Jeno...!" He whines, his voice heavy with strain, "Get... Get up! She'll... She'll kill you... Jeno! Jeno, get up..!"

The figure watching them both only laughs as she angles her blade, taunting him. Teasing him with a smile.

He lets out a pathetic whimper as he tries to claw himself closer to Jeno, his fingernails digging into the cold, hard ground and he rips up fistfuls of grass and dirt. He tries to heave his body forwards, he tries to kick out with his legs, but even when he senses the slightest advancement, Jeno remains just as far away as before.

In a whirlwind of rage and defeat Jaemin lets out a hoarse bellow.

God, it hurts so much to move. It hurts so much to try.

Where was Donghyuck? Had they gotten him too?

In the deep pit of his stomach, that churned uncomfortably, Jaemin knew that no one was coming for them.

"Look at you crawling before me"

The shadowed face of a woman forms before his eyes, her body cloaked in darkness and secrets. Her eyes were pools of black, and her long inky hair wrapped around her shoulders, drawing contrast to her ivory skin. She looked young, and yet her voice was laboured with age.

She barely spared him a glance as from out of the shadows that enclosed around her, she lifts a single finger to inspect her blade, dancing her fingertip along the carefully crafted metal, coronated in crimson stains.

She felt so familiar, and yet, Jaemin turned his head away, and instead tried to focus on Jeno- he tried to calm down the frantic beating of his heart that pounded in pure fear. And then she smiled, and it was a terrible smile. Her cherry lips upturning as if she delighted in his panic.

"Your fate has ran such a different course than intended..."

Jaemin keeps his gaze trained on Jeno's, the once piercing gold tones now muted, muddled with his usual brown eyes.

'Shift!' Jaemin wanted to scream at him, 'Shift and run, go!'

Only Jeno stays. He stays, and he keeps his hand outstretched to Jaemin.

Neither one was going anywhere without the other.

"And now, you and your friends will pay the price" Her voice was gruff, each syllable crackled as if she was stringing together words that did not belong next to one another, "Your 'Seer' put up such a fight. I must admit, he was stronger than I anticipated, especially with that mutt so loyal to him, but in the end he fell... just like the others"

Each word felt like a shard a glass was being lodged deeper into Jaemin's heart.

"And how he tried to spare you, it was so touching..." She laughs. And Jaemin has never hated the sound of something so much before. "It has been over a hundred years since I've met a Seer, pesky things, they always seen to have a plan, humph, luckily for me though, I severed his head from his body before he could complete his"