Astray

01: Watch Where the Blood Falls

October 29 2187

Warm blood dripped slowly onto the concrete below, forming small puddles with splatters around. Blinded by spotlights, Hyunjin kept his head down, breathing heavily through his mouth. It was all he could do to keep himself from going unconscious, watching his breaths form before his face, distracted only by his own blood puddling below him.

On his hands and knees, the earlier strike to the back of his head took away all his coordination, making him rock slightly back and forth to keep his balance. While nearly unnoticeable to anyone else, it felt as though the world was literally shaking to him. There were people all around him, he knew that from before. What he didn't know was what they were saying. His ears rang so badly that he couldn't figure out if the voices were even real or his own madness getting to him.

The suspicion was confirmed when the voices got louder, closer. They were different. Real. While he still couldn't make out what they were saying, it clarified something at the very least.

It felt like hours passed since he was hit, and he knew he'd never figure out how long truly went by. Through his parted lips, instead of an exhale came a laugh. He wasn't even sure what he was laughing at, but the act came unconsciously, and given his foggy mind he didn't have enough control to stop.

The next moment nearly gave him whiplash with the panic that flooded his veins, almost making him nauseous from a sudden movement. There were hands that went under each of his arms, hoisting him up from the ground, causing the world to spin and blur in a flash of light and dark.

At first it was impossible to tell how he was being held, then he was being dragged backwards and it made sense. Two different people held him by his under arms, leaving his legs to drag uselessly against the ground. All that was left to show where he was was the blood on the concrete. His eyes fixated on the red as it grew further and further away. It was all he could do to keep himself from passing out.

Head lolling to the side, then backwards, he stared at the moon that rested in the dark sky. There were so many lights it was hard to see the stars, but at least the full moon still illuminated through it all. There was a reason the full moon was important...but he couldn't remember why.

He couldn't see the faces of the people holding him, they blurred in his outer vision and he made no move to try to see their features. He didn't care nor did he have the strength to move as blood still dripped from the back of his head.

Another laugh passed through his cracked lips, the unnerving sound filling the otherwise silent air. His body convulsed unintentionally, giving the impression he was trying to escape when that was never a conscious thought he had. It caused voices to pass through his ringing ears once more, still leaving him unable to understand what they said.

The grip on him tightened and caused his body to thrash even more as he was dragged more violently than before. His parted lips merely formed a smile, head lolling back and forth.

Moments later the view of the sky disappeared, being replaced by something more industrial. The fuzziness in Hyunjin's mind prevented him from being able to understand where he was pulled. It left him in such a conscious confusion that the smile dropped from his lips, eyes narrowing as he tried to understand what he was seeing.

A scream caught his attention, bringing him closer to reality than he was seconds prior. He managed the strength to lift his head to see before him, the view narrowed on the sides. It clicked, he was pulled into the back of a truck, one of those ones that the back end lowered down to a ramp to get into.

He was supposed to avoid these types of things...but he couldn't remember why. Who told him that?

The same scream of bloody murder filled his ears, bypassing the ringing as if it weren't even there. It was a familiar voice that he could hear more clearly than the ones of the people talking right above him, despite it being further away.