Dark (Jungkook - BTS)

Chapter 6

Hades laughed again. "How could I forget my first prisoner-of-war?"

"War?" There was no war that happened recently that I knew about, or at least not one with Hell.

"Yes, the one with angels and demons," he replied nonchalantly, as if he was reading off a lunch menu, not dropping a verbal bomb on an innocent, unsuspecting girl.

I stayed silent, trying to process what Hades was saying, though that was difficult. This didn't feel like a dream, but everything that was happening said otherwise. I was in a daze, and I felt out of control of my own body.

"Where is my father now?"

"Well, angels can't live that long without contact with light," Hades started to say, the corners of his mouth tugging up in a malicious smirk. My blood froze.

"You don't mean-?"

"Your father was an angel," said Hades nonchalantly. "And now he's dead. He's been dead for years."

It was like an invisible hand clamped onto my mouth. I couldn't speak. I could only breathe shallowly and stare. Meanwhile, Hades had turned to Jungkook.

"Now, go on, boy," said Hades. "Show the girl around and explain things to her. I'm sure there's a lot to do."

Then, at me, he said, "You should get used to this place fairly quickly. You'll be living here for... a while."

With that, Jungkook and I flew to an apartment-type chamber on the next floor, and the door shut behind us as he dropped me onto the red carpeted floor. I gasped on impact. My ribs were definitely either badly bruised or broken. The cut on my side had started to heal, but it still throbbed.

"My... My ribs," I panted, doubling over. They were on fire. Jungkook frowned.

"Angels are supposed to heal quickly," he commented, his brow furrowing.

"Well, apparently I'm only half," I snapped, my vision blurring. I still hadn't fully processed that I was half supernatural creature, but the words had just flown out of my mouth. I didn't feel angelic at all though. With every second, I began to feel more human, more vulnerable. Jungkook disappeared and came back with a cup. My vision was pretty blurry, but I swore that I saw the liquid in the cup glowing orange.

"Drink this," he commanded. I took the cup and pressed it to my lips. At first, I didn't taste anything, but then the fire kicked in. It was scalding hot and way beyond spicy. My eyes watered, and I started coughing manically. I felt the fire going down my esophagus, and I felt like I had just drank bleach.

"Are you-?" That's all I could manage to spit out before going down in a coughing fit, hands frantically clawing at my throat. The pain was unbearable, and I felt like I was melting from the inside out. I choked out tears, but screams didn't exit my throat, though it was all I wanted to do.

"I'm not trying to kill you," sighed Jungkook. "Just wait."

Within a few moments, the pain had subsided. In fact, all of the pain was gone. My injuries felt healed. I still tasted the spiciness, but it wasn't as bad as before. I looked at Jungkook for an explanation.

"It's enchanted fire," he explained. "It's used to keep evil spirits alive to endure their punishments for eternity."

"Oh."

Yeah, oh.

"So, do you have any questions?" Jungkook sat on the bed. I was still kneeling on the floor. "I'm supposed to inform you about everything before anything starts."

Before anything starts? What was that supposed to mean? I had no idea, but Jungkook was offering to answer my questions, and I had many.

"Um..." I tried to go over everything that Hades said. "You have brothers?"

Jungkook nodded.

"Suga, Rap Monster, and V. There are more demons, but there are demons in every region of the world. We're the South Korean demons, the Bangtan Boys."

"So that's why you're Asian?" My hatred and fear were replaced with curiosity. As much as I wanted to run away, I wanted to know more. "And I'm assuming that you can't be killed with bullets?"

Jungkook laughed, but it wasn't as cold as before.

"We didn't come up with it," he said. "Once, all four of us were confronted by a gang in Busan. Their normal mortal bullets couldn't hit us, so they called us bulletproof. Of course, supernatural bullets can kill us."

"I'll keep that in mind," I muttered under my breath. Jungkook raised an eyebrow. He got off the bed and kneeled in front of me. He put his fingers under my chin and pushed my face up. Our noses were millimeters apart.

"I'd almost forgotten that you tried to run," he said, a devilish grin spreading across his face. His obsidian eyes took on a pitch black color. "I think that after this, I'll have to determine your punishment."

I gulped. "Punishment?" I squeaked, my blood running cold. That sounded terrifying.

Jungkook shrugged. "Don't know what it is yet," he said, his eyes flickering with anticipation, "but we'll see."